From Ivory To Blue
by Akeluus
Summary: This is my interpretation of the time frame between SSB Melee and SSB Brawl primarily involving Ivory, Mewtwo; his apprentice Blue, Lucario as a Riolu and a host of other Smash characters. Titles and recognizable descriptions are given in place of names
1. Chapter 1

From Ivory To Blue

By

Akeluus

"…_Get up…!"_

The voice was firm, clear and resounding within Blues head. It did not matter if the speaker were inches or miles away, no distance could quiet Ivory Masters tremulous vocations if he wished for his audience to hear him. And though it seemed as though Blue could hardly move or even think after this latest assault, Ivories command was immediately registered and absorbed into his mind.

"…UP_, cub! The next command will not be with words." _Ivory projected thunderously through the pitiful youth's battered skull.

Blue somehow found the inner reserves of strength to bear the pain of moving his sore arms under himself to perform one pathetic push-up. Getting his legs to follow suit at this point would be something of a miracle, but the determined lad made a valiant effort all the same. He was not yet as winded as he expected himself to be, but the pain in his muscles and joints was debilitating. During a few light crimson coughs, the blue pelted youth managed get a foot under himself and achieve a very low crouch in just under a few hours, it seemed. Moments before he could raise his head, his keen, triangular ears caught the sound of more thunder, not from his militant master or the sky above but from below, a few meters, it seemed. Blue gasped, for he knew very well the source of this tremor, not from any natural seismic phenomenon but from a fantastic suggestion of mental will; Ivory's.

It was merely one faucet of Master Ivory's seemingly endless psycho-kinetic reservoir, this supernatural erosion. Blue knew that this was the only grace his master would allow him for quite a while, given the last assault the youth endured was a concentrated orb of psychometric pressure at nearly point-blank range. The only thing that saved the blue cub from crashing into solid stone this time was luck. He was luckier still that Master Ivory did not utilize his ability to instantly transmogrify himself the considerable distance to stand on the lads back as if he were a street curb.

The ground underneath Blue parted in broken crags, and a great chasm began to form between his weary paws like a large eye opening to behold him. The earth did not simply part from the youth but separate and retreat like a crowd from an erupting flame, with a white-purple flash from far below as a signature stamp from the Master. In seconds, any possible hand hold was far from Blues reach, and he plummeted into what seemed like immeasurable blackness. Immeasurable also was the cubs fear at that moment. Of all things, he could endure the trauma, being thrown and relentlessly pelted with stinging barrages, so long as the vast, blue sky was visible. It was, for personal reasons, the source of his security, his hope, his belief that his dear friend was watching over him from somewhere far away. And now as the youth tumbled into the earths gaping mouth, he was slipping out of sight.

Opening his gleaming, violet eyes after his latest concentration, Master Ivory brought his mind back to his own body's location a great distance from the terrestrial chasm he created. Drawing fresh air into the nasal slits at the end of his porcelain muzzle and back out again slowly, crossing his arms in front of his solid chest, Ivory began to count silently. The ovular end of his powerful, lengthy tail became a metronome as he waited patiently. All of the tests and attacks he had administered on Blue were calculated and necessary up to this vital point. He knew exactly what Blues limits were, where the cub excelled and where he failed, and nearly every single day the scale tipped a little more positively. This last maneuver, the Death Card, was usually where it happened, but he began to feel a sliver of regret as he noted the considerable delay this time.

More out of genuine curiosity than concern, Ivory finally decided to transmit his molecules through the ether to the center edge of his self-made canyon. He admitted, upon seeing the exact size of the fissure, at least wide enough to make several city cars disappear, that his zeal was mostly to blame for the excessiveness. It seemed as well that his own abilities were recuperating at a favorable rate. Ivory still couldn't believe that it took this long to recover from an ordeal that seemed to have happened a lifetime ago. He considered it just a little unfair that the whelp should, in some way, be utilized as a rehabilitation tool, but only for a fleeting moment and swiftly replaced with disappointment. It was mere chance that elicited him to peer down into the inky darkness at his feet as a blue-black blur suddenly sprang from the descending wall beneath him, arced in a bowing curve through the air on a subtle current of psycho-kinetic energy and dart back towards his chest. Ivory had to resist the urge to palm his porcelain forehead between the horns as he phased backwards from his own after-image, having momentarily forgotten that the spontaneously resourceful blue cub had an uncanny ability to "stick" to things.

Blue knew that he was courting disaster by attacking Master Ivory head on, but this tactic would even the scales slightly. Ivory's emphasis was mostly on ranged combat and refining what little metaphysical projectile ability the blue whelp possessed. Short to mid range aural burst attacks were utilized often enough from both parties but never for very long periods of time. Blue actually preferred getting up close and personal with the Master, even though he knew that eventually it would provoke painful psychic volleys and aerial warfare bombardments later on. Young though he was, the cubs innate hand-to-hand skill and resourcefulness seemed to just about match his master's.

The translucent thing put in front of the whelp was just an obstacle, he realized quickly enough. He decided to feign an attack on it before dropping to the ground just beyond the image and propelling himself in the direction he sensed his master's concealed presence to be. Even when he couldn't read Master Ivory's aura very well when he was cloaked like this, subtle tell-tale nuances would give him away: environmental acoustics, clouds of dust kicked up, disturbances in the air, heat wave ripple silhouettes, and in a pinch Ivory's almost imperceptible scent. Blue also knew that Master couldn't travel very far under concealment, and was not incredibly surprised when his young warriors intuition paid off, his novice aura punch impacting with Ivory's forearm at the moment of his uncloaking. The attack brought them close, dangerously so, and at this point Blue was mid air and about eye level with the tall, pearlescent being. Aside from having five powerful limbs, strongest among them being a tail the length and weight of 3 Blues at least, the cub refrained from glancing upward any further than Ivory's collar line into eyes that could stupefy their pray as quickly as they could blink. The height differential between the two combatants was where Master had another advantage in close quarters, and Blue anticipated the attack that was about to follow. Before falling, he swiftly reached out with his other paw to grasp Ivory's extended forearm and swing himself out of the way of the rapidly descending tail coming down at his head. If Ivory had to go toe to toe he would do so in a sideways stance, where he could make the most of his physical arsenal, Blue knew. The cub had only seen this done by the Master a few times before, but he made it a point to remember this seemingly important information. When Ivory's strong forearm began to glow a deep, sparking violet, Blue chanced to drop just a few feet just as the glowing arm was being brought back following the path of the powerful tail. This was also an attack the whelp knew well, a devastating one at that, and his plan would be a very costly one if he failed. As predicted, Master Ivory rose slightly and advanced bringing up his knee a bit and forming a nightmarish claw of dark energy around his three fingered paw before whipping it around at the plummeting cub.

Blue managed to just barely clear the top of the energized limb as it swung around, having bounced up off of Master Ivory's raised leg and vaulted back up to just above eye level. The very end of one of Blues black hair locks was severed cleanly off by the arcing energy, a small price to pay considering the gashes formed in the ground 5 feet from the attack. The cub had blundered his attack, the backwards moonsault kick he had tried to perform over Ivory's attack and at his chin was just a hair too short, and now the whelp was inverted in the air almost forehead to forehead with his Master. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, Blue was still tumbling backwards in the air above Ivory, who's eyes were gratefully still rising to meet his, but the cubs momentum wouldn't allow him a chance to kick down between those dangerous, violet eyes.

Ivory's expression was deadly, he really hated being this close to his opponents, but this opponent didn't get to see his angered face for very long. Just before he could bring his tail around in an apposing arc at the tumbling blue whelp, Flailing black paws puffed with bluish energy before coming down on either side of his face and clapping his muzzle. He felt his tail attack connect, but it was much too close and awkward a blow, somewhat near the middle of it's complete mass and into the pups shoulder. The whelp was knocked away far enough, but scoring a hit with the tip tail bulb would've been more satisfying, as he could easily topple a good sized tree with that technique. Ivory stood his ground and watched as the blue pup sailed towards some nearby foliage and believed he had battered the cub enough to stun him, until a petty but skillfully accurate orb of aural energy zoomed at him from the bushes nearly an instant later. He swatted the ball away quickly and was genuinely impressed by the whelp's blind aim, but he frowned when he considered the attacks speed. Ivory knew that the cub could fire much faster than this, which meant only one thing: A diversion. Opening his senses in the nick of time, the porcelain being registered the swiftly moving signature of the blue whelps form blurring to his flank using aural propulsion.

Confound this close proximity, Ivory growled mentally, and the youth had taken the side where tail was already curved so he would only have enough time to attack with a kick. Ivory's legs roughly comprised the mass of two Blues each and could punt the whelp easily clear of an oak tree cluster, but the trick was actually hitting the mark firstly. The pearl beings foot just passed through a residual cloud of blue dash aura, and he activated an earth cracking psycho-kinetic field bubble but only a split second after discovering the youth running at him up his retracting leg. The whelp always did his very best to exploit Ivory's weakest attribute: his arms, and the psycho Dark Claw would take too long to charge at this point. He had expended too much energy manifesting his momentary PK barrier, so the pearl being's only choice was to stab at the approaching youths face with his three bulbed fingered hand.

The stabbing strike grazed along Blues small chest adding another gash to his already battered front, but it did not slow him down. Concentrating all of his aura ability into his outstretched paw, Blues complete arm span only slightly beat Ivory's single stabbing limb as he delivered a relatively solid blow to his Master's exposed side. It took the vast majority of Blues strength and will to return and get as close as he did, his little legs too sore to hold up much of his weight by now, but the brilliance of the energy that flashed from his paw into Master Ivory's side was almost blinding. It was enough to make the pearlescent being physically growl and clench inward as Blue descended back to the earth and stumble backwards to the ground, just out of tail reach. Now at a safe distance, Blue was very thankful for the momentary reprieve, though he was sure that whatever was going to happen next would take a second to come around but would surely smart.

A defiant well of reflexive aural energy bubbled in his tired limbs as Blue's entire body was suddenly ensnared and hoisted by an invisible vice of psycho-kinetic energy. The indignant flame that burned in the violet eyes the blue whelp was now gazing helplessly into nearly singed him to the core. The inexplicable surge of power he sensed within him could quite possibly save him from the enveloping field, but Blue wasn't quite sure what he would do after that.

Master Ivory was carrying him through the air with what seemed like no more effort than putting on a hat as he stood tall and upright, rubbing his side for a moment. He raised and curled his tail dangerously behind him as he brought the helpless blue pup to within three feet of his piercing violet gaze, boring into the youths frightened, apple red eyes.

"…_That…"_ The ivory beings voice echoed at a gratefully normal volume in Blues scuffed and beaten head, _"will conclude your lessons for today. The progress you have made during this latest trial is significant, but you know I expect a far better effort from you in tomorrows training, and all the days after. You will devote much greater focus on strengthening and utilizing your aural abilities in widely varying situations from now on. Am I understood, cub?"_

"Y-yes, Master." The youth squeaked pitifully as he hovered within Ivory's invisible grasp. Blues mental communications were mostly short range, almost vocal, and had nowhere near the crushing bass of his masters thunderous telepathic voice.

The light of the setting sun over the distant mountain bathed half of Master Ivory's pearl visage in a warm red-orange glow and darkened it considerably around one of his stern, luminescent purple eyes, making his expression even more terrifying to little Blue. The porcelain being turned to regard those distant mountains for a moment as the blue whelp levitated beside him, his body starting to outline in bright, electric blue.

"_Our day is done. We have both earned some rest." _Ivory declared, as both their bodies slowly began to glow in more of that cold, aqua blue light. Even after seeing the act at least a few hundred times, Blue never stopped marveling at his Master's ability to teleport not only himself but any number of things simultaneously great distances in the blink of an eye. It was admitted earlier to Blue, after the first tireless inquisition, that the very island they inhabited was transported to this part of the vast ocean some time ago.

Someday _I'll_ learn how to do it too, the whelp promised himself silently again as the pair vanished with a flash. He'd made that particular solemn vow most every time he was audience to the phenomenon.

* * *

A wide and sparkling lake was visible through the lush trees and vegetation just outside of Master Ivory's primary domicile: A great cave that traveled a ways into the side of the largest mountain. This sanctuary, home to a small collection of other creatures as well as the tutor and student, was nestled in a small valley just on the other side of the range from where the pair did their training.

These creatures were all beings he created, Master Ivory imparted to Blue upon the whelps first arrival. They, like him, were clones of other creatures, and the entire island was a hidden place where they could all live together in peace and protected from those who would capture and do them harm. Initially, Ivory had summoned many strong warriors to this place as a means of publicly and personally establishing his individuality and his worth, he admitted to the blue cub, but that only brought a host of problems. A number of significant ordeals finally prompted his latest move here, where he enjoyed a time of peace and somewhat unsettling quiet until the arrival of Blue. While the cub was certainly an interloper and something of a risk in simply keeping around, the cloned beings did not consider him a threat and after some familiarizing and careful consideration it was decided that he would be allowed to stay.

As the sun dipped into the horizon beyond the lush trees, Blue dragged his feet to the mouth of the cave upon the pairs return, where the rest of the inhabitants usually awaited them. The first to welcome them, or at least Blue in any case, was a golden coated vixen of many lustrous tails, a fire elemental, who had taken it upon herself to monitor the cub's health. Just shy of performing a tackle on the youth herself, the golden vixen swiftly trotted up and encircled his weary body in her elongated body and tails, curling her muzzle up underneath one of the cub's weary arms and allowing him to lean the majority of his weight against her. After making sure the whelp was secure in her gentle embrace, she would also customarily glare up at Ivory Master and jet a subtle nostril flame as she berated him for such harsh treatment of the youth with intense emotions.

There was little Ivory could do in defense against the bitter vixen's scolding, even though he had explained time and again that such training was necessary for the youth to improve. He wasn't all together sure why Golden Flame's maternal instinct had so ignited around the whelp in the first place, but he ultimately supposed it couldn't be helped. Some of the other creatures felt similarly towards Blue, others, like one dragon-being of amber flame, agreed that Ivory's heavy hand was necessary for the youth to grow strong, and a few were still on the fence about Blues presence in general.

It was the same greeting just about everyday as Ivory hovered into his cave, yawning as soon as he was out of sight, but it was not a burdensome thing. He was actually grateful that they all had something to talk about, to keep occupied with, a welcome sliver of the outside world.

Further into the cave was an area that tapered off to a sheer, upward cliff face nearly a story high that opened up into a smaller cave at the top; Ivory's personal quarters. Once there, the pearlescent being walked the small distance to a wide cot on the floor, sat in it with folded legs and waved a bulbed paw in the air, activating a wide screened television mounted on the far wall. Ivory had little interest in the civilized world, and, in fact, possessed very few pieces of technology on the island, but he still considered the importance of keeping up on world events from time to time.

Recently, subspacial disturbances had begun occurring nearly everywhere, on every continent, speckled within cities and residential districts. A few weeks ago it was just a rumor, word of "portals" appearing here and there in out-of-the-way places, but nothing large scale enough to elicit any kind of panic. Now city authorities and news casters were strongly encouraging civilians to avoid approaching the mysterious wormholes as much as possible.

For Ivory, it was like déjà vu, he was quite familiar with such anomalies. Aside from having personally been through them many times himself, he owed the gates for bestowing upon him the small, blue wretch. He couldn't help but ponder how seemingly convenient it was for the youth to have stumbled into his path. There was certainly something about the timing of the event that made it seem almost "planned". But that theory just didn't hold water, no one in the world knew how to find Ivory or his island except for Ivory himself, and so it was ultimately dismissed.

The porcelain being was eventually aware of and somewhat surprised by the ascension and arrival of the blue cub to his chamber sometime later, when he knew the sun to finally be down. This did not bother him terribly much, for he knew that after a time the golden vixen would track him down and call him to bed from below.

"What does the news say today, Master?" the little one asked timidly as he approached the side of Ivory's cot to view the television screen. "Are there…more doorways now?"

"…_It is the same as the day before, cub. Nothing has changed, no one was seen going in or coming out. It is not something you need concern yourself with now anyway."_ The pearl being imparted to the whelp before waving the device off. For a moment, the chamber was shrouded in complete darkness until Ivory illuminated the small room with many small orbs of soft, white psycho-kinetic firefly light.

Blue sighed and hung his head slightly to look down at his own tiny, black hind-paws on the stone floor. "I was…was just curious, sir." The cub confessed demurely, not being much for words, "I didn't mean to bother you."

"_It is understandable, cub. Were I in your position I would be inquisitive as well. But you should retire now and regain your strength for tomorrows lessons, as must I. Golden Flame will be along shortly to collect you."_

"Yes, Master." The whelp stated with a short bow before turning back to the edge of the small cliff. Blue had to admit that his eyelids were already getting rather heavy, and he didn't even anticipate walking around this much just after training. He would wait for the golden vixen to arrive below, so that she could offer to catch him and he wouldn't have to expend so much aura power to slow his descent to the stone floor below. His sore limbs would be somewhat rejuvenated from whatever rest he managed to acquire before the very break of dawn, which Master Ivory always beat to the field hands down.

Sure enough, a shrill bark sounded from below not very long after Blue perched at the edge of Ivory's chamber, and the cub dropped down from the light of the white fireflies to the soft, golden plume of the golden vixens tails, subtly illuminated by a candle-light flame at the end of her long muzzle. Blue turned sleepy eyes up the sheer cliff face to the fading firefly light of Master Ivory's chamber and yawned widely as the motherly vulpine carried him off to bed.

* * *

A faint whisper of external suggestion awoke Ivory from his dream fitted sleep in the middle of that quiet night. He reached up to rub his temple lightly and exhale as he finally made the decision to stand from his lotus sitting position and stretch his limbs briefly. In the darkness of his chamber, he stood deliberating for a good while before finally making a decision.

Moments later, Ivory was standing in a flat, stony area on the opposite side of the island from the sanctuary. Arms folded, expression stern, he beheld the familiar sight before him with moderate contempt and a speck of curiosity.

There was little moonlight illuminating the surrounding the area, there didn't need to be much anyway, for the spherical, building-sized wormhole Ivory stood before brightened the world around it for quite a ways. It had been here for a while, and the pearl being could never effect its bizarre nature in any way, with any quantity of his power. While it was true that he could possibly move the island yet again to get away from it, Ivory wasn't sure whether or not the portal was bound to the land itself and if such a disturbance would cause an unfavorable reaction.

The only measure Ivory took to monitor its progress from a distance was to erect four psychically energized spires of gem rock, each measuring just about half the gateway's total height, on all cardinal sides of it. These charged spires would not tell him what, if anything, was coming thru or entering the portal, but when and roughly what size the object was.

The shimmering rainbow pool of this wormhole served as the curtain through which the blue cub made his appearance onto Ivory's island. For better or worse, it was also a painful yet somehow necessary reminder of his tumultuous past in the chaotic realm beyond it.

Ivory stood with tightly folded arms and cold, piercing violet eyes trained on the large gateway for a long time before exhaling into the faint, night breeze.

"…_If you were anyone else, I would crush you the moment I sensed your presence."_

The night yielded no immediate answers for the pearl being after his declaration.

"…_Just what is your business here? I will have an answer while you are within my territory, and do not dare speak in riddles."_

No voice came through the night air to compliment his, but he did receive an answer in the form of softly whispering music on the midnight wind, very close by.

"_Do you intend to keep me standing here all night, Crystal Shadow?"_

The sorrowful tune, that of a simple golden harp, continued on the air from the top of one of the stone spires. There, a lone, lithe figure in dark, exotic, form fitting garb, with a visage enshrouded in flowing veils and a delicately wrapped turban, stood perched expertly balanced against the starry sky.

"…Is it I, or the fitful visions of your dreams that brings you here tonight, White Mystic?" the perching figure imparted to Ivory in a gentle, haunting voice, its wispy blonde bangs dancing quietly before its closed eyes.

Ivory curled his tail around slowly as if in preparation to make a crater in the ground behind him before telepathically thundering _"I do not appreciate my own pertinent questions being answered with another obscure question. Either make your purpose here known or be gone!"_

The figure slowly opened deep, warm maroon eyes on the pearl being below, playing a few more dulcet notes on the ethereal harp before their form vanished in a silent, sparkling mist. A few moments later, the harp music continued anew, only this time at ground level and within the shadow of an adjacent pillar near Ivory.

"I only ask out of genuine concern, old friend." The figure admitted softly as it stepped into the light of the portal, with soundless footfalls and gentle harp music. The figure now revealed itself to be a humanoid female wearing a significantly regal and expertly tailored white dress. Her silken, auburn hair was all pulled and braided back from eyes that were now brilliant sapphire, behind long, tapering elfin ears and underneath a glittery crown of crystal and white gold. Ivory knew this was the only being he'd ever met who could sneak so efficiently into his lands. "I'm afraid I must also apologize to and thank you all at once."

This latest confession was taken with a measure of suspicion by Ivory, and he unfolded his arms in preparation for anything that could come next. _"In regards to what, exactly?" _the pearl being inquired with a cautious tremor in his mental voice.

The blue eyed stranger brought her softly crooning harp tune to a close before spreading her hands a little and standing openly before the towering figure of Ivory before stating "In regards to your young apprentice, Mystic Warrior, for I am the one responsible for his trespass into your sanctuary. It was necessary to save his life, and aside from being a native to this world I could think of no better caretaker for him than you. I have witnessed not only your remarkable abilities in battle but a fleeting glimpse of your compassion. Given the whelps unfortunate fate, he could use whatever compassion one could afford to bestow."

Ivory continued to glare at the sapphire eyed maiden, folding his arms again as he deemed her approach to be passive in nature. He snorted in frustration and looked back into the shimmering light of the giant portal before imparting _"What you saw within the nexus was a mockery of my complete abilities. I needed to see my objective through at all costs, even at a fraction of my true strength. It was... disgraceful!"_

"It was significant enough, White Mystic." The regal maiden offered in return, noting the chiseled scowl on the pearl beings muzzle at his offensive memories. "It may not have seemed as such, but very few denizens of my kingdom share such valiance, strength of heart and courage. All these things deemed you most noteworthy among the others, in my eyes. Even alongside the lone champion of my own world."

"…_So it was you who brought the blue cub to my island." _Ivory stated finally, giving the shadowy, maroon eyed figure a cold glare. _"While he is not a threat or a hindrance to me, you do not have the authority to make such a decision, Crystal Shadow. Besides, other such gateways cover this whole world. You could have sent him through any one of them, to any number of willing surrogate parents, even others of his kind. I think the act was ill planned."_

"It is true that given the situation at the time I had very few options, but my memory of you was quite clear, Mystic Warrior." The maiden admitted in her soft, disarming voice. "And as I have stated before, I could think of no better caretaker than you, given the similarities of your potential abilities. The cubs own personal quest, and his determination to fulfill it, are a mirror image of your own once upon a time."

Ivory could not find any words to project in response to Crystal Shadows observation. All he could do at that moment was look back across his vast island in the direction of his mountain home. His mind was a swarm of contradicting emotions, behind his tightly furrowed brow.

"The cub needs the kind of training only you can give him, if he is to successfully complete his quest. You can mold and shape him into the strong warrior he was meant to be, for the sake of the one he lost. Only, do not favor one half of his strengths over the other, Mystic Warrior. It is my belief that the young one could use more emphasis in his close quarters training."

Ivory only shrugged at Crystal Shadows latest statement, still watching the distant horizon with burning, violet eyes.

The mysterious, sylvan maiden began to play her haunting harp melody once again after a moment of palpable silence. She turned quietly as she played and paced with soundless footsteps back towards the vast shadow of a nearby spire.

"It is a pity you do not try your hand within the nexus a second time, White Mystic. It would be an honor to battle the chaos alongside you once again."

"…_Apart from my obligations here among my charges, I don't have even a suggestion of the _vaguest_ desire to return to that childish insanity, thank you very much."_

Crystal shadow couldn't resist a soft chuckle in accompaniment to her haunting harp melody. "I shan't be far away." She stated simply before stepping into the spire's shadow and vanishing, from view and from that place, leaving the quietly fuming pearlescent being to his thoughts. And there he stood for some time that night, in the quiet company of his memories and the shimmering portal sphere.

Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

From Ivory to Blue

Chapter 2

The wicked, black carriage of the Lord of Curses sped swiftly through the sparkling expanses of the Chaotic Nexus, pulled along by a team of six powerfully muscled equine creatures each clad in fearsome black and silver armor. So dark with evil magic was the cursed vessel that even the brilliant forest of ethereal portals, each leading to hundreds of venues within innumerable worlds, could hardly illuminate its imposing image.

Closely flanking the nightmarish carriage was a creature of equal horror: the Intergalactic Tyrant was a huge beast with a dark, glistening, alien exoskeleton; razor sharp, golden talons; a trailing, boney tail that ended in a deadly spade; fiercely intelligent eyes that burned like sulfuric, yellow torches in its elongated skull, and a pair of great, glowing, bat-like wings that easily spanned the length of the carriage and half its team.

Within the black and red velvet interior of the carriage patiently sat the Curse Lord himself. Decked in a much more regal design of the pull team's signature style armor, rose red hair pulled back into the loops of an ornate, metallic crest, the evil ruler allowed a grin to spread on his dark, slate gray skinned face as he glanced out the curtained window. Sitting in his lap was a black lacquer chest just large enough to carry the head of a normal sized humanoid (and probably did at one point) which he stroked the surface of tenderly as if it were a beloved pet.

"What the heck's so funny over there, Triangles?" croaked the Biker Bully, a fat, impish, zig-zag mustachioed man clad in a blue jean jacket, purple pants and a goggle wrapped, yellow hat sitting across from the Curse Lord.

It wasn't just the bully's idiotic title for him, chosen for the characteristic "triangle" pattern which occasionally appeared on each of the Curse Lords gauntlets, but his entire ensemble. There was a palpable miasma of garlic and possibly machine oil ebbing steadily from the mustached thug's big, comical teeth that grated on the dark ruler's miniscule temper pointedly within the confines of the small mobile chamber. However, at this moment not even that sickening aroma could kill his pleasant mood.

"…Despite a few predictable delays, everything is proceeding as planned." The evil emperor confessed in a deep, menacing growl to the plump troll lounging across from him. "And I believe I have mentioned one thing or another about you not calling me that."

"Yeah, well, one of these days yer gonna have to explain that whole triangle deal to me." The bully croaked as he shoved a meaty, gloved hand down the front of his purple jeans and rifled around for a moment. He eventually found and extricated a double cheeseburger from those stained trousers, and didn't even exercise the courtesy of swallowing the greasy treat before giving a meat and cheese muffled "Seems a little wacky to me, the whole magic golden building blocks thing, but hey whatever floats yer boat, pal."

You are one to speak, you garbage eating toad, the emperor almost let slip from his lips but somehow found the will to keep it at bay. "I have also explained the concept of my power chevron within the ancient triad of those 'Magic Golden Building Blocks' you so eloquently refer to. But I suppose something of much greater importance held your attention at the time." The sarcasm was practically rolling off of the hex master's crimson beard in thick chunks. As he recalled, the mustached bully was picking feverishly at something within the odious recesses under his arms during the summary, notably with his giant, dice-like incisors.

"But even that is only of mild significance in comparison with the events that are unfolding before us. The Collector has entrusted me with the duty of overseeing a grand scheme." The decorated emperor continued, referring to a strange being of immense power whose goal was once to subdue and capture the Nexus Fighters, including the Curse Lord himself, and numerous denizens of other universes. Now it seemed that the Collector's plans spanned a much wider horizon, requiring capable generals and new technologies to see them through. Apart from not wanting to face the Collector's wrath a second time, the mission's promise of power and glory did greatly appeal to the Dark Emperor.

"As of now, only a few pieces of the puzzle remain uncoupled. The completion of our army is fundamental, as is the employment of this latest officer--!" The Hex Lord offered, his evil, golden eyes widening and partially moistening as his words were abruptly cut short by a foul and reverberating belch from the other side of the carriage.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know all o' that!" The mustached progenitor of the nearly sentient burp proclaimed. "I still say Mits shouldah put _me_ in charge of the whole deal instead o' you. But as long as I can score a mountain of dough and my own amusement park world I ain't gonna complain. Then everybody'll know I'm the most rotten scumbag in the universe, and the whole world even! WAH-HA-HAAA!!"

"…Indeed." The Evil emperor stated simply, resting the lower portion of his face against his hand and willing his window partially open as a new potpourri began to breed with the one already nesting within the carriage confines. There seemed to be no end to the buffoon's repertoire, he lamented, upon hearing the bully's title of 'Mits' for the Almighty Collector.

"And just what makes you so sure the Lizard'll even bite, Triangles? Guy's almost got a bigger crib than you, and a whole slew o' goons. And I don't know if he's keepin' tabs on his estranged family but they all got their own fancy digs and hired hands." The offensive biker inquired.

The Cursed Emperor merely smiled and began to stroke the ebony surface of the case in his lap again. "It's simple, my friend. The 'Lizard' and I are very much alike in many regards. He will gladly join under our regime if the promise of great power and glory is assured. I am quite confident that my gift will certainly appeal to him."

"Huh. Whatever you say, 'Angles. I told a friend o' mine about the whole deal earlier and she said it was stupid. Then she called _me_ stupid, like she always does. She thinks anyone who isn't a ghost from that crappy old house she lives in is stupid." croaked the bully, mostly to himself, as he inspected his curly-toed shoes for more snacks.

"_We are finally approaching the fungus planet's portal."_ hissed the piercing, bestial voice of the Intergalactic Tyrant from alongside the carriage to its inhabitants.

The Dark Emperor grinned and nodded to the great, winged scourge before conjuring his window closed again, making sure that the stink-geist had been exorcised completely from the craft's interior. With a wave of his hand, the hex master summoned a transparent image of his visage next to the carriages hooded driver outside and imparted a few instructions as they passed through the rippling veil of the nexus wormhole.

* * *

Carriage and pull team sailed on trails of magical darkness for a few moments after passing through the portal from the cosmic depths of the Nexus to the grassy, cylindrical hills of the world it now entered. Eventually the craft settled down onto the smooth dirt road beneath it, not losing a fraction of speed as it chased the path winding through the colorful valleys under a sunny, cloud dappled sky.

The nightmarish duo of cursed carriage and alien tyrant thundered down the road for a long while, causing local fauna and sometimes flora to quickly retreat to places of safety. As they traveled down the path through the strange world, the landscape gradually began a rather drastic metamorphosis. Seemingly smiling hills carpeted with downy green grass began to twist into claws of jagged, grey and black stone. The happy, puffy clouds above the pair melted away and spread into a seething, solid, blood-red ceiling. The playfully sculpted trees and foliage of the valley were completely replaced with vicious, carnivorous plants with jagged teeth, and the shimmering crystalline lakes became scorching oceans of living magma. The only area of the hellishly twisted land that didn't seem life threatening was the road the pair continued on, which was now a professionally chiseled pathway of smooth, concrete bricks.

Giant automated cannons and fields of creatures that appeared to be rabid ball-and-chains with hideous, metal teeth started to decorate the realm just outside of the pathway. Though the hell valleys strange defenses were well within range to shred, devour and vaporize carriage and alien tyrant in seconds they all held their ground, not out of fear but obedience.

The land and its terrifying inhabitants continued to twist as a massive castle of brick and metal came into view on the horizon. Decked on nearly every parapet of the huge structure was a large, waving flag stenciled with the silhouette of its owners snarling face.

A cadre of brutish, green shelled reptile humanoids in simple armor, wielding a widely varying assortment of weapons from solid throwing hammers to boomerangs, served as the doormen for the immense castle. They were there to politely receive the caravan of doom after it pulled around the wide courtyard to the front of a large set of stairs leading up to an equally large, spiked door which was also emblazoned with the fearsome king's visage. The sky above the surrounding area was also dotted with flying soldiers, who floated around on feathery wings, strange cloud crafts and many other oddities as they gazed down at the visitors, paying special attention to the giant winged alien among them.

"Fellah sure is fond of himself, isn't he?" The Biker Bully croaked, back thumbing to the many statues crafted in the castle kings terrifying image and decorating the many landings of the stairs as the trio was escorted to the entrance.

The Curse Lord did watch the statues closely as they ascended, having heard a rumor about the seemingly simple decorations possessing the ability to saw intruders in half with searing rays emitted from each of their angry stone faces. Just about everything in view could destroy you in seconds, as well as that which was not in view, much akin to the hex master's own fortress. He could not help to admire the somewhat unorthodox but masterful artistry of the castles many traps and a sinister grin spread on the emperor's face. He carried the shining, black lacquer case casually in one grey hand at his side as he climbed the staircase.

The space pirate boss refrained from setting foot on the tiny stairs below him, opting instead to hover up behind the dark emperor and the bully until they reached the main landing before the huge door. Hesitantly, the Intergalactic Tyrant landed behind the pair and folded his great, leathery wings behind him, glancing around at all of the castles fortifications with disdain as he stalked along on clicking talons. Depressingly archaic, he thought as the castles giant, screeching doors were pulled open on either side by two stocky, turtloid soldiers. And in the same breath accidentally brilliant, the alien then lamented as he set demonic, yellow eyes on what appeared to be spectral security drones floating around in the inner chamber. Largely unimpressed as he was, the space demon had in fact been utilizing one of his many gadgets, a tiny, low-res video recorder threaded onto the surface of one eye and wired to a data storage node implanted under his cerebral cortex, throughout the entire journey.

As the group was escorted up into the massively booby-trapped, heavily guarded and strangely decorated hallways of the large castle, the Biker Bully took visual inventory of everything around him, rubbing his belly and grinning with his almost lipless, golf ball toothed mouth. Nothing within the confines of the castle particularly frightened the mustachioed villain, but he had to admit that all of it was making him really hungry. The vicious looking, carnivorous pipe plants that drooled and panted as they sensed the group walk past them looked like they would go great with mustard and a light vinaigrette, the bully's grumbling gut suggested to him.

A set of doors only slightly smaller and more ornate than the ones at the front of the castle was slowly pulled open before the group by another pair of green shelled, hammer soldiers to reveal the castle's main throne room. It was an enormous chamber with a vaulted, buttressed ceiling, statues, portrait paintings, gigantic stone torches and even more multicolor shelled soldiers stationed strategically around the room. After being curtly ushered inside by their escorts, the trio continued down a wide, plush, red carpet on a black and white checkered floor that lead to a giant, ominous throne where a doubly giant and ominous castle ruler reclined.

The ferocious, spike shelled, dragonic beast king glared at the trio over a large bushel of grapes he was munching voraciously on, the sweet juice drizzling down from his scaly muzzle, and waved them closer with a clawed, muscular hand. The tiny pupils of his burning, red-orange eyes dilated slightly as he met those of the three visitors, while he paid absolutely no attention to the demure, pink, reptilian creature with a big, red bow on its head crouched at the foot of the throne. The pink reptile was working feverishly at something on the king's lower person, and did not make any indication that it was even aware of the approaching trio.

"**Well??" **The reptilian king bellowed to the three after swallowing a fist-full of grapes, yanking their attention from the odd thing in the red bow. **"Speak your case! I don't have all day, you know!"**

"Firstly, I would give my thanks to you for allowing us passage into your vast kingdom, O Mighty Emerald Inferno. Well met again." The Curse Lord offered poetically, along with a deep bow and a sweep of his black cape, which just about completely covered the squat, mustached creep at his side.

The flame haired dragon king quietly considered the title given him for a moment as he reached for another snack from the plate sitting on the thrones solid armrest, and was about to speak again when something entered the room from above. Another strange being, also reptilian, wearing what looked like a flowing blue robe, a conical blue hat and circular, obscuring glasses swooped down on a sparkling broom from the skylight and hovered up to the side of the castle rulers head. After the weird reptilian mage imparted a few quiet chirps into his ear, the beast king scowled and simply nodded in affirmation.

Suddenly, the miniscule mage extracted a small, glowing wand from one of its flowing sleeves and quickly aimed it at the Alien Tyrants face. Caught completely off guard, the space demon's wings suddenly flared open, but before he had time to hiss an affront for being singled out abruptly the air above the mini-mage's open palm sparkled and an object appeared there. What now sat in the palm of the reptile wizards open hand, the alien noted, was his own video recorder implant, removed at a distance by some metaphysical means. Perhaps this overgrown toad isn't as daft as he looks, the Intergalactic Tyrant thought to himself with a frown.

"**No more techno tricks outta you while you're in **_**my**_** house, Space critter! And if so much as a mist of your acid spit ends up on the royal carpeting I'm gonna make you personally reupholster every square inch of it, from my throne to the castle door!"** the Emerald King roared in his earth shaking voice before stabbing a barbed finger through the air at the mustached bully who was batting remnants of the Dark Emperors black cape from his face. **"And what the fungus is HE doing here??"**

Upon being caught in the reptile king's furious glare, the Bikers jaw did quite literally hit the floor at his feet, and he just about turned to stone.

"These two are my fellow officers, deemed so by the Almighty Collector itself. The Collector has shown remarkable competence and generosity in the orchestration of its latest plans." The Curse Lord stated, peeling his attention from the red bowed pink thing working diligently at the foot of the beast king's throne.

Emerald Inferno swallowed his latest snack bite down his muscle corded throat and reclined back into his throne, with lidded eyes, a puff of nostril smoke and a brief growl of appeasement as the pink creature performed its tireless duty below. **"…Just get to the point already, before I rotisserie roast and eat all three of you. I'm getting bored."** He grumbled.

"Very well, your majesty." The Dark Emperor imparted with a shallow bow of his head. "Quite simply, The Collector has placed my associates and I at the head of a great army, combining all of our strength and skill in a mission of universal conquest. The spoils of all existence are to be plundered, our will enforcing the hearts and minds of every world. The Colle--."

"—**Rrryyyesssss."** The reptilian king suddenly purr-growled sensuously during an increase in volume from the slick, wet, rhythmic smacking sounds coming from the pink creature's work at his nether quarters, both smartly cutting the Curse Lords words short. Noticing the sudden deafening silence and frozen stares in the room through his lidded, live ember eyes, he waved a clawed hand lazily in the air as he offered a breathy **"uh-huh, carry on."**

"…The Collector has perfected the means through which our reign will be possible." The hex master continued, as he swept a grey hand in acknowledgement towards the Intergalactic Tyrant, who was still fuming silently over the loss of his toy. After a moment, the space pirate boss stepped forward and turned his boney palm upward, in which was latticed another small device with many small lenses dispersed around it. He looked to the Emerald King first for approval to use the device, and after receiving a hesitant nod activated it, producing a holographic interface of many different operation system windows. After expertly opening a few folders and typing a few alien glyph pass codes, the Tyrant opened the 3D model of an intricate piece of technology.

"Colossal, inner dimensional travel fortresses such as these will be at our disposal, as well as a sizeable armada of loyal, otherworldly soldiers, constructs and warriors." The Curse Lord stated, motioning to the hologram enthusiastically and prompting the space pirate boss to cycle through the personnel list of his high-tech dossier. "All this and more has been extended with your seat among this fellowship of evil by The Almighty Collector, O Infernal King."

"**Hmmm... **_**What**_** more, then?"** growled the reptilian ruler as he gently stroked the head of the pink creature tending to his lower regions, interest beginning to burn in his torch light eyes.

This inquiry prompted quite a wide smile on the lips of the hex master's face, and now he raised the black lacquer case he had been carrying with him, waving his hand in front of the dark, magical gem which served as its lock.

The Emerald King was a bit suspicious as the black case was brought forth, but was no less intrigued as he sat up in his great stone and steel throne to give the mysterious sight his complete attention.

As the lacquer case was opened, a brilliant, colorful light blazed forth from the inside, momentarily blinding the reptilian ruler before he could raise a clawed hand to his eyes. When his vision finally cleared, the spike shelled king chanced to peer into the case, and the look of recognition on his face was absolutely unmistakable.

A smile that would make a great white shark envious spread on the muzzle of the Emerald King, but that was the only movement he allowed himself as he stared hungrily at the contents of the box. **"…That will be all, pleasure servant. You rub the royal feet quite skillfully, I think I'll keep you around for a little while."** He growled indirectly to the pink creature crouched before him.

The pink, tube mouthed reptile immediately stood up at that point, curtsied daintily to its appeased king, winked at the trio over its shoulder and pranced out a door to the left of the great throne, trailing a subtle floral scent from the exotic oils on its paws.

"Hey, isn't he--?" interjected the Biker Bully, pointing after the red bow sporting thing that just skipped out of the room before being cut short by a raised claw from Emerald Inferno.

"You are quite familiar with this treasure are you not, mighty king?" asked the Curse Lord, his smile spreading even wider. "You were the first among us to discover its power."

"**Of course I am! I can't remember how I managed to get it in the first place, or lose it for that matter."** Bellowed the spike shelled king, more to the black case than its carrier. **"That's the, um…"**

"A shard of chaos." The hex master continued in response, still smiling sinisterly. "A sliver of hyper dimensional energy capable of granting those who know how to wield it limitless power, the very thing that made you a god within the far reaches of the Nexus."

"_**I know that!!**_**"** The Emerald King snapped, with a fiery roar that shook the room like a thunderclap briefly. His hungry eyes glowed with the reflection of the rainbow light streaming out of the lacquer case, a hint of longing was there as well. **"I remember exactly how it was! I don't need to be reminded."**

"Under the regime of The Collector, such glories can be ours again. How easy it would be to achieve total rule with such power at our command, the four of us! Our combined might would be unstoppable, undeniable!" exclaimed the Dark Emperor.

"…_I want neither glory nor conquest. I will take whatever power suits my objective."_ The Intergalactic Tyrant suddenly hissed amidst the present ire. His eyes and nostrils suddenly smoked with plasma heat, his golden talons clenched tightly and his long, ridged tail whipped in the air, nearly decapitating a nearby shell soldier. _"I…want nothing more than the opportunity to rip, to crush, to slash, to mangle, trample, incinerate and atomize the _Damned Golden Hunter!!"

"I want my own chain of cosmic amusement parks! WAH-HA-HAA!!" croaked the trash breathed, mustachioed villain in sequence.

"**I didn't ask!"** barked the fiery maned reptile king, deadpanning at the three individually with an expression that demanded silence. He sat in thought on the deal for quite some time, rubbing the scaly underside of his bright, yellow muzzle and still staring at the black, shining case in the hex master's hands.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Emerald King finally spoke again. **"You sure do drive a hard bargain, Voodoo Man. I'm gonna need a little time to mull this over, I don't know how I feel about working under The Collector. I'll send a messenger to give you my decision once I've made it. Where will you and your little crew be in the meantime?"**

The Curse Lord closed the black case, stepped forward slowly and offered it to the greedy, clawed hands of the dragonic king before returning to his spot between the alien and the bully. "You may send your royal herald to the Apex of Chaos within the Nexus. I await your verdict with bated breath, O Fiery Warlord. We shall take our leave now." He said with another sweeping bow, sparing the mustached man his cape this time. "Farewell, and may your mighty reign prosper."

"**Whatever. Now get lost!!"** the reptilian king barked, waving them off as he stared greedily at the black case which now sat in his lap. He hardly heard the hex master's last statement in any event, and was peering into the black box with wicked glee long after the throne rooms heavy doors were closed behind the departing trio.

* * *

A few days later, at the furthest, darkest frontier of the Chaotic Nexus, the Curse Lord and the Alien Tyrant stood on the flat surface of a transport platform which flew swiftly through the corridors of a massive, technological compound. Much of the area the pair flew through was still under construction, with only large, metal foundations, scaffoldings and flat sheets of alloy in different sizes obscuring the view of the infinite Nexus beyond them. Everywhere they looked they could see their army, an array of strange humanoid beings with soulless, red eyes and widely varying shapes and sizes, busily hammering, welding and toiling away at the compounds unfinished hallways.

The pair eventually entered a larger, less complete area which was purposely opened to the outer Nexus, for it served as a docking bay for what looked like the partially constructed skeleton of a huge space craft. Here the platform slowed to impulse speeds so that Emperor and Alien could survey the progress of one of their most important projects. As they watched thousands of their obedient workers, looking like ants crawling around on the bones of the giant, metal beast, a figure flew silently through the air a little ways off from the pair. The figure, a yellow eyed, limbless being in an aristocratic, green and gold hooded robe, nodded to the two dark generals on its way past the platform, receiving two acknowledging nods in kind.

"_Citadel construction progress is nominal."_ The Alien Scourge hissed indirectly to his fellow platform rider as he looked at some holographic specs in his palm computer. _"Structural completion has reached 45%, with 73% of its total systems and automated functions already online. Our ranged weapon capabilities have been the slowest to develop during the project, but our personnel census is still increasing at a sufficient rate. With additional laborers, our progress percentages should optimize and magnify in a satisfactory amount of time. We are still slightly ahead of schedule on compound fortifications, but our field operations would be multiplied greatly with the acquisition of the vessel we discovered on the Star Planet."_

"All in due time, my winged friend." stated the Dark Emperor, resting his palms on the butt of his large sword as he gazed out over the immense technological tapestry weaving itself into being before them. "The Masked Swordsman's chariot will be ours before too long, he cannot avoid us forever. Besides, on the whole I feel we have accomplished great strides in our work thus far, with greater gains yet to be made."

"_Your enthusiasm is almost tangible, Dark One. Do not forget that the beating of one despicable butterfly's wings can influence the movement of cataclysmic storms."_ The pirate boss snarled cynically and with more than a touch of reminiscence.

"True enough, my star faring associate, but I am not worried. The element of surprise is on our side, and everything is going so very well." The hex master replied as he glanced down at a video screen built into the railing of the floating platform.

The monitor had just turned on to reveal the image of the mysterious Collector itself. The floating hand creature was once simultaneously the nemesis and the bringer of the Nexus Warriors into the endless depths of hyper reality. Now the chief overseer of this galactic undertaking, it seemed that the godlike Collector's defeat by the small band of resistance fighters had given it a new perspective.

"Does the fruit of your most humble servant's efforts appeal to My Liege?" the Dark Emperor inquired with a pious bow of his head to the screen.

The Collector entity gave a simple gesture of 'OK' before it terminated signal connections with the platform screen.

Smiling sinisterly and spreading his black armored hands wide, the Hex Lord glanced up at his winged platform companion. "Even the Almighty Collector approves of our progress. Good fortune glitters brilliantly on the horizon."

The Space Demon was hardly listening to the Emperor, having devoted a sizeable chunk of his sulfurous attention to the sound of a growling motor coming from another approaching platform.

The Mustached Bully, having clumsily rigged his smoke belching motor bike to a smaller floating transport, careened loudly into the vacant space near the two onlookers. What looked like the last 4 feet of a solid alloy I-bar was slowly disappearing into the cavernous maw of the curly shoed villain. "What's up, fellahs?" the bully croaked over the irritating sound of metallic foundation being chewed like bubble gum.

"…_I need you to refresh my memory banks one more time, Dark One. Just why exactly do we allow this humanoid trash compactor among our ranks?"_ the Intergalactic Tyrant groaned through a somewhat comical deadpan on his elongated face.

"There isn't a fiber of the bully's being that doesn't offend every one of my senses." Admitted the Curse Lord through a similarly tired expression, "However, his ability to navigate the chaotic pathways of the Nexus and locate spoils as well as prey seems naturally inherent. The troll hails from a realm where maddening chaos and discord are a very frequent occurrence. He is, in fact, largely responsible for the presence of most of our vast legion."

"_Still, I don't see how a nice, long nap in a stasis chamber would harm the walking bacterium."_ The Alien Scourge replied, folding his sinewy, exoskeletal arms and wings.

A shadow passing across the surface of the platform caused the hex master's hand to change its grip on the handle of his evil sword, but upon recognition of the shadows owner he relaxed his guard immediately. He even smiled up a bit at the approaching shadow maker, a small, cloud riding reptilian creature that served as the Emerald Inferno's royal messenger and sometimes aerial bombardier. The cloud rider brandished a simple fishing pole with an envelope attached to the end of the line, which it lowered down to within the Curse Lords reach and immediately zoomed away once the offering was taken.

"Now that's just plain silly!" The Biker Bully observed as he watched the cloud flyer speed off into the Nexus. He turned his beady eyes back to the Dark Emperor and gestured to the envelope with his bulbous snout. "What the heck is that thing anyway, a birthday card er somethin'? Heh, is there money in it??"

A wide and terrifying smile of glee was already forming under the hex masters deadly, golden eyes as he extracted the note from the envelope. "No, my fat friend, something far better… It is a royal decree!" And a wicked, slightly maniacal laugh erupted from his fanged mouth the moment he had finished reading the message. His triumphant laughter echoed into the reinforced corridors of the compound, off every metallic rib of foundation and deep into the sparkling expanses of the Chaotic Nexus.

"…Um…So is that a 'yes'?" croaked the mustachioed villain obtusely, scratching the side of his head.

Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

From Ivory to Blue

Chapter 3

This particular morning on the Ivory Being's hidden island sanctuary was bathed in a nearly monochromatic, foggy grey overcast. A light, cool moisture was present in the air, lowering the temperature slightly more than usual but not uncomfortably so. The pearl skinned being had purposely situated his island a few hundred miles north of the equatorial line of the planet, making sure that while the summers occasionally got rather warm the winter season, which it was now, was never unbearable.

Ivory sat at the very peak of the sanctuary's highest mountain, peering down at the land before him silently, while opening his all-encompassing psychic senses to nearly every inch of ground and greenery that comprised the island's total mass, making sure that everything was in order. It was, of coarse, as it had been for the many months since the land mass' relocation here. He was thankful for such quietude, yet at the same time it was beginning to reach the point where the calm and peace were like a heavy quilt laid atop an already made bed. The seas were tame around the island, the weather was quite normal without the psychic's subtle influence and even the world news he watched from time to time hadn't made headlines of any recent turmoil. Everything was irritatingly perfect, but for a being like Ivory, who was created to be the ultimate fighting entity, it was starting to itch at the back of his mind.

Standing up and stretching finally, after being seated for a few hours before and after sunrise, the pearlescent being decided at that point to tour the grounds of the island in person, foregoing the sweeping astral projection he usually did during his morning security check. For exercise, he even chose to hover at a casual pace down the mountain and over the lush jungle at its base on his way to the outer regions of the landscape, as opposed to his typical instantaneous psycho-kinetic transportation.

He took his time as he circled the island slowly like a bird of prey searching for a meal, feeling the moist, cool air run over his limbs, scalp and tail, looking down upon the sanctuary with his physical eyes instead of his mental vision. He swooped over and under the jungle canopy's thick network of strong branches, through the tall waving grass of the flat, green fields and dimpled the water of the islands main river just slightly as he followed it to the ocean. Once there, the Ivory Being invoked a spherical, psycho-kinetic field rich with oxygen around himself and traveled deep under the water around and below the island sanctuary for a while.

The live sweep of the grounds was certainly a bit more engrossing than the telepathic scan, but yielded the exact same normal results nonetheless. This is what he wanted after all, the pearl being lamented as he sat on a large rock at the crest of a great waterfall not far from his mountain cave dwelling and the lake valley where his companion clones lounged blissfully. The peace that he fought so hard to achieve for the creatures in his care was finally a reality, they had all rightfully earned it. But was this all there was to life now, quiet solitude?

There was certainly no need to battle anyone anymore, for any reason, as he had already proven his strengths and shortcomings to many different individuals time and again. But it was in every cell of his being, the will to fight, for everything and nothing. The safety of his cloned creations was what he wanted more than anything, but his seemingly endless power was meant more for fierce combat than protection, and he could not deny that. The pearlescent beings very first memories, the abrupt fading of the kind little girl and the small virtual world the two of them shared, still stung in the depths of his conscious, prompting a suppressed rage that would never completely die. In their brief moments together, young Ivory's dear friend taught him never to settle for what was simply given, to strive for that which your heart most desires.

Ivory did not stay enveloped in his emotional memories for very long, as a gentle ripple in his psychic sense suddenly prompted his attention. He opened his deep, violet eyes, stood up on his rocky perch and glanced in the direction his mental compass pointed in. It was an area he had already swept in his island flight, and through concentration his psychic projection showed nothing out of place, but his intuition set of a small, silent alarm in his mind. While it didn't look it from afar, something was definitely out of the ordinary.

Teleporting himself to the area of the disturbance, in a flat, rocky, treeless expanse on the other side of the island from the lake hideaway, the Ivory Being took a careful visual inventory of his surroundings. Being back in this same location in person didn't reveal anything new to him except a foreboding and nearly overwhelming paranoia. He stood very still for a while in that spot and continued to survey the field and the ocean beyond with a thoroughly creased brow before eventually noting a definite visual change.

The air just in front of him was now rippling gently, as if he were looking down at the surface of a body of water, only his reflection was not present. As he looked around the vacant space before him, Ivory noted that the rippling area was well beyond his arm span, in a circular diameter easily wider than the mouth of his mountain cave. And as he watched it, the invisible wall began to ripple just a bit more, nearly obscuring the view beyond it.

At exactly the same moment Ivory decided to back away from the spacial disturbance to get a complete scope of it, the rippling veil ignited into a bright, colorful sphere of frosty, ethereal light before his eyes. The sight made Ivory hesitate in awe for only a moment before his survival instinct took hold, his hovering stance and psycho-kinetic energies quickly adapting for any potential threat.

Something burst through the shimmering sphere the instant Ivory prepared himself for battle, and did not stop for any introductions or to even consider the pearl being or its surroundings. It was point blank, something almost double Ivory's size and weight, and he had just enough time to summon a concentrated plane of psychic energy between himself and the thing before it connected and carried the two of them back through the air for a ways above the jungle canopy.

Ivory snarled as he willed the tandem flight to stop, putting forth a significant telekinetic effort to do so, and maintained his planar force carefully as he tried to visually make sense of the otherworldly threat he was currently clashing with.

The creature from the shining sphere seemed strangely shaped, almost a rounded square, with no face, limbs or body Ivory could immediately discern. It was cottony white in color, with a circular ring around the furthest portion from Ivory, with three odd channels leading halfway up its flat front and four distinct rises at the point where its two main flat areas intersected. The notion was absurd, but Ivory could almost swear this offensive thing was a balled "fist" of some kind, with no visible attachment to anything around or behind it or any indication that it was artificial or biological in nature.

The clash finally broke after a few moments, the maneuver initiated suddenly by the portal creature itself, and after reaching an adequate distance from Ivory, expanding and opening to reveal its true form. It was indeed a giant, gloved hand with considerably dexterous fingers, and not only did it bend, turn and twist in the air in front of Ivory to prove its aerial agility but it also produced an amused, echoing laugh from some unknown point around or within itself.

Insult was the first emotion to spark within the pearl being after the hand creature's bizarre introduction, but also an undeniable trace of anticipatory excitement from encountering what certainly seemed to be a formidable opponent. True, he had the safety of his cloned companions to think about overall, but the event felt like one that had been in the making for quite some time, and he was actually looking forward to it.

"_You dare to ambush me within my own sanctuary, vile intruder? We will do battle then, if that is what you desire! But be warned, if you hold anything back I will thoroughly erase your existence, without even a SPLINTER of remorse!!"_ Ivory telepathically thundered to the floating hand creature while manifesting a dark, crackling orb of intense psychic energy between his bulbed hands.

The Glove responded to the pearl beings proclamation by turning its palm skyward, flattening itself and bending its fingers inward in a very definite "Come on, then" gesture, emitting a condescending chuckle as it did so.

Ivory did not expend the concentrated well of PK energy right away, opting instead to use some of it for an immediate teleportation to the Glove's back side, then carving a wave slash of travelling energy downwards at it, followed by a looping, psi-charged tail whip that created a pincer move with the previous attack. The Hand was caught slightly off guard by the sequential attacks, but it did not flinch much with the blows, and reprised with a twist and a simple perpendicular chop at Ivory. The attack was slow enough for Ivory to plan quickly for, cloaking and projecting his image for the hand to pass through as he dashed upward to avoid the deadly arc.

His invisibility would not be terribly effective with such a powerful well of energy stored within him, so the pearl being made sure that he was a sizeable distance away before uncloaking himself and setting up for his next maneuver. It surprised Ivory a bit, but he did manage to dodge in the nick of time as the Glove Entity rolled around quickly to give him the "Gun" gesture before firing a pair of bullet-like projectiles from its fingertips. The attack was swift, the missiles just barely grazed along the width of his back and nearly severed the thick chord leading from the base of his scalp to the middle of his spine, but Ivory's risky maneuver allowed him to recover quickly, aim and launch his stored energy in a furious, violet sphere at the hand creatures knuckles.

Following that attack, and taking advantage of the momentary stun the psycho-kinetic burst forced on the Glove, Ivory blur dashed to a moderate proximity before igniting a flurry of small, sparking explosions on the creatures joints and noteworthy points in an effort to possibly debilitate it. The Hand wasn't dissuaded for long, and traveled backwards through the air over the jungle canopy in order to distance itself from Ivory.

The pearl being pursued the hand creature quickly, but kept a good distance from it as he gave chase, charging another well of concentrated energy in his hands as he sped along the treetops. He wasn't quite sure whether or not the Gloves sudden flight was out of tactical strategy or fear, all of its movements were alien and unpredictable, so he kept his senses sharp and attuned at all times. Before too long, the Hand Entity halted its retreat all at once, angled the tips of its fingers in Ivory's direction and fired sizzling rays of bright energy from each of them.

A split second decision saved Ivory from the wrath of the deadly finger beams, as he extended his hand and enforced a tremendous psycho-kinetic will to bend the Hands fingers subtly enough to redirect them. The finger beams passed a fraction of an inch from each of his limbs, and his dash after the hand would not allow him to slow his speed into its palm and what he assumed would be inevitable capture within.

Sure enough, the Glove Entity attempted to grasp Ivory as he came to within clutching distance, but its fingers merely grasped air as the pearlescent being teleported away and just above the top surface of the hand in the blink of an eye. Now inverted in the air, Ivory thrust his hand downward onto the knuckle of the creature and gave a powerful growl as he conjured a swirling, miniature nebula of ripping psychic energy into it at point blank range. The Gloves surface burned with a dark violet flame and writhed momentarily before the climax of the black nebula blasted it with considerable speed down into the jungle below.

Ivory went into a controlled free fall after the plummeting hand creature just before he heard it crash violently through the solid limbs of the green canopy. As he descended, the pearl being swung his arms out wide and willed the earth below his opponent to break and split apart, pulling the jungle brush back from an enormous, gaping, hungry looking mouth of earth and stone awaiting the falling hand. For good measure, Ivory accelerated his fall quickly, tumbled backwards in the air and delivered a downward kick to the Glove, propelling the creature down twice as fast into the vacuous maw. When he was sure the Hand Entity was deep enough, Ivory halted his fall, clapped his bulbed hands together and commanded the terra mouth to snap shut around it with the remainder of his accumulated power, causing plumes of dust to rocket up into the air with an explosive boom around him.

The pearl being chose to wait patiently this time as he watched the Glove's gravesite, now a seamless mound of foliage covered dirt, with scrutinizing, deep purple eyes. He started charging another concentrated well of energy between his white hands as he devoted most of his attention to the ground below, some of it in the direction of the strange portal the creature attacked him from. The strange gateway was another matter, but getting rid of it was just as important a question as how he was going to defeat this formidable foe. His keen battle intuition told him that the hand creature was still a ways from bested.

Ivory's instincts were spot on, as he heard the earth under the jungle below begin to rumble with increasing volume. A rising blast of dust and rubble accompanied the Glove Entity, as it shot out of the ground with the speed of a cannon ball, its fingers angled conically as it twisted with blinding revolutions like a drill bit. Ivory's psychometric blast hit the spinning hand dead center, but the creature's upward momentum hardly slowed at all, and had he not strafe dodged in the very nick of time he would have received considerably more than a twisting gash up the side of his pearl body. Biting back the pain, Ivory quickly let fly an intense barrage of piercing psycho-kinetic orbs that exploded against the sky as they chased the spiraling hand creature on its high arcing flight.

The thundering battle of the two powerful beings raged all across the island for a long while, making stony ground split, toppling large trees and dimpling the grey clouds of the overcast sky. It never strayed too near to the cave domicile, and through it all Ivory intended to keep it that way. The duel finally concluded with a heavy whip of the pearlescent beings bulbed tail that sent a thoroughly bruised and tattered Glove Creature smashing loudly into the side of the large mountain. The rocky ground beneath the hand cracked violently with its hard landing, but even more as a tremendous telekinetic pressure immediately grinded down onto it like a large, invisible foot. Ivory levitated down from a little ways overhead, arms folded and porcelain flesh shimmering with a flame-like blue aura as he looked down his muzzle at the pathetic entity with twin, lavender nova eyes. Even with this much will being exerted, he was aware that at this point he could simultaneously generate a psychic blast powerful enough to vaporize the creature.

"_Utterly disappointing!"_ Ivory imparted forcefully to the placated hand creature. _"You gave a significant performance for a lot longer than I expected you would, yet in the end you fell pathetically short. I will spare your miserable life, but only in the recesses of my memories and nowhere else."_ In truth, the pearl being had received a few visible wounds himself during the climactic battle, but in no way did they hinder him from conjuring the energy for his final psychometric sphere.

To Ivory's surprise, he suddenly began to hear faint laughter start to bubble up from the battered Glove Entity, and while he did not dispel the energy gathered above his bulbed hand he did decide to keep it at bay for a moment.

"_Your defeat is indeed laughable from my perspective, Glove-Thing. But what exactly is it about your imminent demise you find so amusing?"_ Ivory inquired with one raised, porcelain eye ridge.

Struggling to combat the massive psycho-kinetic pressure holding it in place, the defeated hand creature raised a weak index finger to point to a place behind Ivory, still producing a raspy cackle from its invisible mouth.

Keeping his psycho-hold in place, Ivory chanced to peek over his shoulder hesitantly after a moment. The sight he beheld then was enough to steal away just about all of his victorious fortitude in one breath.

A ways down the mountain side, gathered near the shimmering sphere portal the Glove Being appeared from, was Ivory's family of cloned beings. They were all gravely injured, and wrangled in the clutches of strange humanoid beings that looked to be composed of transparent meshes of grid patterned energy.

"_NO!!"_ Ivory boomed all at once, doing his very best to maintain his composure. He was somewhat aware that his concentration was slipping from the immediate area, but he didn't care at that moment. It was a definite stalemate, the Hand Entity and its minions had him cornered, and the pearl being was entirely at a loss with his friends in such mortal danger.

"_Leave them out of thi-!!"_ Ivory emitted angrily, turning around just in time to see the Glove Creature blur off of the mountain side at him. Before he could do anything else, Ivory was suddenly and completely enveloped in the creatures suffocating grasp. Within the hands crushing grip, the pearl being struggled with every ounce of his physical and telekinetic strength, just managing to keep the thing from breaking his body within it. That weak but triumphant laugh continued to echo all around Ivory as imparted every remaining fiber of his will to keep from being compacted. Every effort to psycho-kinetically lacerate, pry or bend the hands fingers sapped more and more of his strength, even his spherical energy field was becoming much harder to invoke.

The pearl beings stamina was taking a massive toll, and after a long winded fight within the creatures grip he found that not only was his strength slipping away but so was his consciousness. He began to realize, while listening to a faint voice in the back of his mind, that his energy wasn't merely fading but being _taken_ from him by force. It was, in fact, coalescing within his captor's being, replenishing its own strength and metaphysical power, and the miniscule voice he heard was coming from somewhere outside of him.

"MINE. TAKEN. MY POWER NOW. DELICIOUS. MARVELOUS. COMPLETE POWER NOW. EXCESS. DELIBERATE… …IDEA. DUPLICATE. MAKE ANOTHER. YES. VICTORY." The voice echoed within Ivory's head, but it was his own interpretation of the emotions and ideas the hand creature was sending him. Ivory's palpable disgust was what mostly kept him aware at this point.

While he wasn't sure exactly what was going on, Ivory sensed the presence of the hand creature expand slightly and then suddenly split. When the essence divided it did so symmetrically from a physical standpoint but mentally unevenly. A more civilized portion kept him in the crushing grip, while a sporadic and unpredictable half separated and floated a little ways off from them. Ivory could hear not only the victorious laughter of one entity but then also the completely unhinged and maniacal cackling of another malevolent being of equal power close by.

Eventually Ivory was set on the ground by the hand entity, and not only was he still partially conscious but he was also standing. His body was locked in a strange posture, all of his limbs completely numb and lifeless, and there was some sort of small, constructed platform under his feet as if in some perversion of a display. He could see where he was, the area just in front of the shimmering portal the hand came through, and in the company of his wounded companions. He tried to mentally shout in outrage, but his body would not respond no matter how much his will protested, all of his power was exhausted. Within his field of vision he witnessed the energy vertex humanoids forcefully usher and carry his friends into the glowing portal, gestured on casually by the civilized Glove Creature.

A wild, riotous belt of laughter heralded the descent of a second, nearly identical hand from the sky above, and the new, deranged being continued to cackle as it snapped its fingers loudly after the departing henchmen with popping joints, pointing dramatically and incessantly at the gateway as they left. When all of its minions and its unstable twin vanished beyond the rippling wall of the portal, the primary Glove Entity stayed behind to hover before the immobilized Ivory, who it was aware was still watching the whole scene. The hand creature turned itself over and emitted a sinister chuckle as it curled its index finger inward in a bating "Come in" gesture to the pearl being as it backed into the rippling rainbow gateway and ultimately out of sight.

Alone, defeated and incapacitated, Ivory's mental scream echoed only within the chambers of his head.

* * *

The nightmare roused Master Ivory in a dousing of cold sweat and an audible gasp, as it always did whenever it manifested during his fitful sleep. He groaned quietly and rubbed his temples as he purged the dregs of the terrible memory dream and eventually calmed down slightly when he realized where the human female's voice in the room was coming from. His senses told him that it was just before sunrise, and the flare of his ambient energy upon awakening had turned the television monitor on.

The current report the anchor on the world news channel gave had something to do with a considerable number of people recently going missing near the spherical portals that began appearing everywhere. A large movement to barricade and monitor the mysterious gateways in particularly populated areas was underway, and some cities were encouraging their residents to stay indoors until further notice. There was even submitted home video footage of strange and ominous looking creatures stepping out of and wandering around near the portals, but the poor quality and general shakiness of the video made things largely indiscernible.

In a few interviews conducted around the world, several determined looking gym leaders and their affiliates claimed that they would utilize every fighting creature in their arsenal to combat any extra dimensional threats that may appear, to preserve the safety of their fellow citizens. These were inevitably followed up by more interviews with local and international authorities who tried valiantly to discourage civilians from taking matters into their own hands.

Ivory turned off the television with a wave of his hand before standing up and stretching out briefly. He knew he couldn't leave the news channel on for very long without drawing the Blue Cub's tenacious curiosity, regardless of what the youth was doing at the time. Sure enough, even before the pearl tutor began to impart a long range, telepathic message to the whelp to rouse him his miniscule voice echoed up from the bottom of Ivory's cliff.

"People everywhere are starting to disappear, aren't they? What should we do, Master?" Blue called up before the pearl beings violet eyes appeared in the darkness above.

Ivory stepped over the edge of his cavern and folded his arms as he walked slowly down the sheer cavern wall to the whelp, with his body completely horizontal. _"We can continue your training. That is all we can do right now, cub. Nothing else in all the world is more important."_ The pearl tutor imparted to his pupil as he reached the cavern floor, illuminating it with the aural glow of his teleportation energy.

* * *

The noonday sun made the grass of Master Ivory and Blue's training field shimmer as it waved in the gentle breeze. The whelp never tired of it's beauty as he dashed through it, even while firing off marble sized aura bullets in rapid succession at the Pearl Masters swiftly strafing psychic doppelgangers. He simultaneously puffed out a few aural shadows of his own while he attacked, tumbling and rolling to avoid the slicing telekinetic waves that cut across the field at him from a distance. It seemed that today Master Ivory was putting forth a much greater effort to keep the cub at a respectable distance, as he hardly came to within kicking distance of Blue all day. The training regimen was also notably more intense, each of the Pearl Teacher's flat, several meter wide psycho-kinetic pressure waves were taking off tufts of the Blue Cubs fur as they screamed past his little acrobatic body.

Blue decided to take a chance, change his tactics after firing a few more tiny aura bullets by diverting the majority of his energy towards propelling himself towards Ivory through the deadly maze of energy slashes. As he got close enough, his senses helped him to disregard the doppelgangers and more accurately anticipate the path of the psycho-waves as they approached swiftly. For perhaps only the third time that day, Blue's death defying dance brought him close enough to his master to potentially connect with the extending flare of an aural roundhouse kick. But as his foot came around a sphere of energy exploded in front of the whelp and sent him rolling backwards ungracefully through several yards of grass and dirt. This latest psi-field burst from Master Ivory was one of the strongest Blue had ever felt, and even though the world was spinning around him as he rolled to his feet with a cough he wasn't very surprised when an invisible blanket of crushing telekinetic force suddenly fell over him, making the ground tear in a shallow crater.

"_What have I told you about keeping your distance!?"_ Master Ivory snapped, emphasizing his question with the loud shattering of his glowing, psycho-kinetic bubble.

Even though he was most definitely held in place, Blue noticed that he was not completely immobile at that moment. His master certainly took notice of this, and the invisible force around increased as he gritted his sharp teeth and dared to stand up very slowly, his own aura energy responding to the psychic hold.

Ivory's purple eyes narrowed at the cub's resistance, and he continued to administer the psycho-vise while watching his young student. _"I devote the majority of your lessons to refining the power of your ranged abilities for a reason, cub! If you expend all of your energy in an effort to run up and touch your enemy then you cannot expect to be prepared for attacks such as this!"_ and with one bulbed hand raised to maintain the crushing field he raised the other out to his side to conjure a large, crackling orb of dark energy above his palm.

Blue was amazed that he was able to even move at all under the weight of the psychic force, it just seemed as if his aura was involuntarily resonating within him. He could still hardly take a step in any direction let alone hope to dodge the dark orb Master Ivory was about to hurl at him, so he devoted all of his strength to slowly raising his small arms in an effort to block the impending attack.

"Seriously now, is your aim to train the cub in combat strategy or use him for target practice?" A gentle voice inquired some distance behind Ivory, just after something snapped around the wrist of his energy charging hand.

Whipping his attention angrily from the staggering whelp to his arm, Ivory discovered that the thing bound expertly around the base of his hand was a thin yet strong, crystalline chain. The Pearl Being kept his energy charged as he visually chased the chain down its length to the figure that held the other end several yards away. Upon discovering the identity of the interrupting party, Ivory grumbled low in his throat, more with indignation than the acknowledgement of a real threat.

"_You are seriously beginning to test my patience, human, trespassing into my sanctuary a second time."_ He telepathically projected to the maroon and sapphire eyed maiden he spoke to at the portal the night before. He remained on his guard, but slowly dissipated the loudly crackling energy orb above his hand, shaking himself free of the shimmering chain and knotting his arms loosely in front of his chest. _"And you dare to interrupt fundamental lessons? Consider yourself fortunate that your bones are still intact."_

The maiden raised a slender hand to her lips daintily as she produced a quiet titter of amusement. Instead of the regal dress and sparkling headdress she wore the night before, today the sapphire eyed lady was dressed like a genuine city dweller; sporting a pair of high top shoes, simple jeans, a t-shirt with some generic company logo stenciled on the front and a light green baseball cap. Her elongated ears were tucked mostly under the silky brown that was braided down her back, which completed her disguise as a mainland local.

"I told you that I would keep in touch, White Mystic." The maiden stated with a wink and a smile as she approached Ivory. "Apart from the occasional visit, I shall respect the sanctity and the peace of your lands while within them. I hardly believe I am much of a match for you in any case, so you needn't feel threatened by my presence."

"_Why are you here this time, and no more of your confounded poetry!"_ the pearl being snapped to the maiden, with a whip of his powerful tail in the vacant air.

"I am here in your world for two simple reasons, old friend. Firstly, I find milk shakes and chili dogs to be quite delectable fair, and I do so enjoy the many marvels of these vast cities!" The maiden said with a smile, glancing out at the sparkling ocean. After a moment, she turned her attention to the disregarded blue cub still standing shakily in the wide crater of earth. "Secondly, I'm here to make sure that the training of our capable little youth is complete. It simply would not do to drag him along through an unbalanced educational routine."

Cautiously, Blue began to step up out of the crater and pad slowly down the skid trail made by his tumbling body to where the pair was standing. He wasn't too sure, but it appeared as though the strange lady was not a dangerous visitor, and was in fact talking to Master Ivory about him.

"_It is balanced enough. I am accurately simulating the dangers he will face during his eventual trials within the Chaotic Nexus. I shall not be there to hold his hand, so he must be thoroughly prepared for the worst that reprehensible vortex has to offer."_ The Pearlescent Being responded with narrowed, violet eyes. He did not favor the blue whelp with a glance of acknowledgement, but he did speak indirectly to him with a gesture of his hand to the sapphire eyed visitor. _"This is the Lady of Crystal Shadow, the overseer of a kingdom in a universe parallel to ours. We became acquainted within the Nexus during my brief time there. She is also the reason you have come to dwell within my hidden sanctuary."_

The sapphire eyed lady curtseyed and smiled kindly to the bedraggled cub after Ivory's introduction of her. "Well met again, brave young fighter. It pleases me to see you again, and in good health."

Blue wasn't too sure about the 'good health' thing at the moment, as he stood on his weary little legs, and while he felt that he should know the lady somehow there was nothing immediately familiar about her. "…Um, hello, Ms. Crystal Shadow. I-I'm Blue." He managed to peep timidly before quickly bowing low, his black hair locks patting the dusty ground at his feet.

"What a charming little gentleman." The silky haired maiden said with a grin before turning her attention back to Ivory, folding her arms partially to adopt a professional stance and also to mock his seriousness a little. "Now then, White Mystic, I have a proposition for you, if you would hear me out."

"_If it involves chili dogs than prepare to be sorely disappointed, as I have no such junk food on my island."_ Ivory telepathically grumbled, rolling his eyes slowly.

The maiden resisted the urge to give the pearl being a friendly elbow in the side, but she would save that for later and offer a smug smile instead. "Here is my offer. In the mornings your lessons with Blue will proceed with you in the usual fashion, training him in the ways of mind magic duels at range. When the sun reaches its apex in the sky, his tutelage in close combat arts and hand-to-hand tactics will then begin under my supervision. And during my time here, I make a vow to never tarry into your sanctuary beyond the mountain unless you first deem it permissible to do so. Does that seem a suitable arrangement, O Ivory Champion of Will?"

The pearl being considered the lengthy title a bit on the excessive side, but as for the deal it didn't seem too illogical. The maiden did not pose a significant threat while she was in his lands, and he had always known her to be a lady of her words. Besides, it was certainly about time she took some responsibility for the situation she begat in the first place.

"…_Very well. From noontime to sunset the whelp is yours to tutor, and once you are done with the day's lessons return him to the secluded path that leads to our domicile on the other side of the mountain. The cub knows how to reach the path, and will be fine returning home from there should I not be present during the afternoon class. Under no circumstances are you to bring other visitors or reveal the location of my sanctuary to anyone. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Crystal Shadow?"_ Master Ivory emitted firmly, making sure he had both of their undivided attentions.

"Absolutely, good sir. I shall honor thy wishes strictly to the letter, let this pact henceforth be enacted." The silken haired lady said, clasping her hands together in front of her chest and invoking a magical, triangular symbol to appear over them momentarily.

Blue was absolutely mesmerized by the minor magical display, which reflected in his wide, red eyes for its brief duration. It was very interesting because the blue cub sense that it was not a mental feat but something truly ethereal and otherworldly, as Crystal Shadows entire person seemed to be.

"Now then," The maiden quipped, adjusting her baseball cap to peer up into the sky and note the position of the sun. "Precious time has already been lost, it is well past noonday, little one. We will begin our lessons post haste!"

Blue took a step back and gaped as the sapphire eyed lady raised her hands in a sparkling, magical arc and brought them together before her body ignited in brilliance. For a moment, the maidens form was an amorphous blob of hovering light and swirling sparkles before the whelp, but then it gradually began to take shape. When the light finally dissipated, standing with sharply precise balance where the blue eyed maiden once stood was an almost completely different individual. The maiden, if it was still her, was now decked in dark, skin tight armor, a concealing scarf and a simple turban and peered at him with deep maroon eyes instead of sapphire blue ones through wispy, golden bangs.

"Are you ready for our first class, young fighter?" the mysterious shadow maiden said to Blue in a slightly deeper whisper of a voice, crouching down into a fighting stance and pulling her crystalline chain taught between her taped hands.

The Blue Cub shivered a little and gulped audibly.

Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

From Ivory to Blue

Chapter 4

"Do you think we're being punished for something?" the Electric Trainer, a wrangler of electricity elemental creatures, offered to the small group of five individuals he was seated with. He adjusted his glasses and took another look around the environment they were in; something akin to ancient, stone ruins in the clearing of a lush, tropical jungle under a sunny but drably colored sky. It was daytime there, but something just seemed missing from the sunlit world, an underlying pulse that would otherwise be abundant in such an environment.

"Doesn't matter. Soon as I can find a way outta here we're takin' it. And if we run into the creep responsible for us being here I'm gonna personally tenderize his face!" growled a girl standing not too far away from the people seated in the grass. She was the leader of an earth elemental creature gym of the same world the Electric Trainer hailed from, and her impatience with the whole affair was blatantly obvious as she watched the ground at her feet, arms crossed tightly in front of her and tapping a foot quietly. "I'm not gonna be anybody's prisoner, I don't care _who_ they are! M'kay, here we go."

The surly Earth Gym Leader knelt as she felt a small tremor at her feet, and she watched the dirt in front of her separate as a short, brown creature with three nubby heads and pink noses cropped up suddenly.

"So, did ya find anything interesting down there? A tunnel or any cave systems leading away from here?" The Earth Leader inquired of her three headed pet, still looking angry but also a touch more hopeful now.

The three headed thing's three expressions all became worrisome as each head shook in unison.

The Earth Girl sighed and chewed her bottom lip, but patted each of the brown things three heads amiably before dropping a red and white ball next to it, "Ya did great anyway. Take a break for now, we'll try again in a little bit." The ball opened at the separation of its red and white hemispheres before beaming the three headed creature into it within an arc of white light and snapping shut.

"Hey, I ain't tryin' to butt into your business or anything, miss, but I don't know if it's such a good idea to go fiddlin' with stuff around here." Said one of the members of the seated group; a short statured man with black hair, wearing a black tank top, green athletic shorts and matching boxing gloves. A big metropolis accent peppered his speech, "We don't know where we might end up, and there are, like, _things_ out there in the woods. I don't know about you, but I'm trained for the ring, not the jungle."

The Earth Leader stood up, folded her arms and whipped around to scowl at the pessimistic Boxing Champ before offering, "Huh! And here I thought you'd be one of the tougher guys among us!" her voice similarly and ironically accented, "Where's your sense of adventure, dude? We can't just sit here on our butts and wait for help to come! I'm gonna get out of this place and back home one way or another, 'cause I've got a tournament to win! You do too, four-eyes!" She whipped an accusatory finger at the bespectacled Electric Trainer seated among the odd congregation.

The Electric Lad just sighed and scratched the back of his neck in response initially. "Good grief. We have much bigger things to worry about right now than some tournament, like how we're going to survive out here." He glanced around at the surrounding, wanly lit foliage before his vision rested on one of the other members seated with the group, "Having any luck with your device so far, ma'am? I have some knowledge of machinery and power outputs, just let me know if I might be of any help with anything."

The person the Electric Trainer had just spoken to, a fairly attractive humanoid alien female with green skin, blond hair and wide, pointed ears, dressed in a sleeveless, professional looking pink and white flight suit, just huffed and shook her head as she tinkered with a plate sized, foreign looking circuit board with strange looking, light emitting tools. "The navigation and stabilization components of my craft are just fried. It's not particularly difficult work, just time consuming, and probably something a little foreign to your knowledge, sir. All the same, thanks for the offer." She propped her head up on her free palm as she sat with folded legs in the grass nearby and fiddled with the complex device in her lap, taking a moment before too long to absently look up at her craft; a several story tall mechanoid the same color as her flight suit, with a lithe, feminine figure and large, white wings lying on its side a good distance away from everyone and smoking from a few areas. "She's got a host of other damaged areas, but if I can get her CPU functional again maybe I can get us all somewhere a little safer, hopefully without running into our captor. Whatever he or she is it's nothing to take lightly, took me down without much of an effort. I've never seen anything like it, nothing like what my race has developed even comes close."

A sudden shout, followed by a violent explosion and a rising ball of fire and smoke tore from somewhere in the jungle just behind the parked, winged mech of the Alien Female Pilot, and most everyone in the group swung their attention towards the disturbance.

"Gagh! What the *croak* was that? Pretty, green lady's robot ship blow up again?" belched another member of the group; a large, plump, humanoid frog with bulbous eyes, wearing a brown cloak, a silver necklace decked with a single large ruby and a miniscule golden crown atop his head.

Upon standing up, the Alien Pilot squinted her eyes as she quickly inspected her craft, then calmed down just a bit after a moment, "No, that's not my tank, but I hope we aren't being attacked again." She said before swiveling her glance at the jungle all around the group, inspiring some of the others to do so as well.

"No, no one is attacking us." Came the exasperated sigh of the only member of the group who hadn't jumped at the sudden explosion; A forest green haired girl wearing a blue, medieval style knight's uniform and brown boots, with a light weight sword carried in a buckler at her side. She folded her arms, lazily rolled her eyes in the direction of the blast and frowned before saying, "You needn't worry unless he decides to bring his fight closer to us. He is a boy from my kingdom, and he is known for being rather impulsive at times. I tried coaxing him out of his ire earlier but he would not have any of it, so all that is left is to wait until he blows off steam." The Female Knight finished, just as another furious shout and low rumble issued from the distant jungle.

* * *

A good ways into the jungle from the group seated next to the winged mech, standing in the center of a smoldering crater filled with the disintegrating corpses of several bizarre and very dead creatures, stood a red haired boy decked in blue and gold highlighted medieval armor with a flowing blue and red inseam cape blowing in the wind behind him. The youth whipped his large, gold handled sword around him in a wide arc to blow away some of the remaining smoke before resting it on his armored shoulder and giving a triumphant exhalation.

"Ha! What a joke these creatures are! I'm having far too much fun to stop just now!" the Red Haired Knight exclaimed as he leapt out of his crater with ease, his shining sword trailing a faint tail of magical flame in his wake. After his rugged, blue boots touched the ground, the boy quickly whipped his head from side to side to scan for any other approaching threats, and actually smiled when he heard the sound of thunder crash loudly just on the opposite side of a patch of foliage just yards away.

A strange, black, red eyed humanoid being wearing an odd green suit and cap suddenly rocketed, out of the nearby trees from the direction of the thunder clap, it's coarse emboldened by a thick horizontal line of smoke. It's flight path was cut short abruptly by the enthusiastic twisting slice of the red haired knights sword attack. Both halves of the void creature's carved body flaked away in a black mist before they had a chance to touch the ground.

"Great finish, little friend!" The fiery red haired youth called out to the trees at the same moment a small, yellow furred rodent with a black accentuated tail and pointed ears and red circled cheeks stumbled weakly from them, also smoking and sparking lightly. The scorched mouse plopped down lightly onto its haunch and puffed out a small, exhausted breath before giving the red haired knight a bright, adorable smile and waving to him excitedly.

"We have been victorious thus far, but we are not nearly out of danger yet. Evil permeates this forest, and we must persevere if we are to make it out alive!" The fiery knight growled as he balled a tight fist in front of him.

A strange, alien mewl issued a few yards away from the duo, and in the slowly clearing smoke they beheld an almost festive looking monster made up of a tower of cylindrical, yellow faces and topped off with a colorfully tasseled, metal head with slightly woeful eyes. It crooned almost plaintively as what looked like four small tornadoes whirled out from behind its tall body. The tornadoes spun and stopped in formation alongside the tower beast, and after ceasing their rotations revealed themselves each to be ominous looking humanoid beings with black static bodies, glowing cores, a pair of faceless heads and massive, crescent blades for arms.

"…Now THAT is more like it!" proclaimed the red haired gladiator with a big toothy smile and twin embers in his eyes. He raised his brilliant sword in the air and gave a triumphant pose before addressing the small, yellow rodent at his side, "Truly our greatest challenge yet, little friend! Are you ready to forge onward for the glory of our respective kingdoms, shouting defiantly into the face of certain death and horrifying dismemberment!?"

"P-Pi…" the timid rodent responded, swallowing hard as it's beady brown eyes reflected the shine of the crescent blades the two-headed shadow assassins were carving together hungrily.

The blue armored youth was too hot blooded to adequately interpret his electric mouse companion's small peep as a 'yes' or 'no', and was already adopting an aggressive battle stance before the blade creatures began to advance and the tower creature's head started to bobble. "This tortured land will be free for the innocent to dwell in once again, I swear it! By the fire in my blade, the foul creatures plaguing these hills will know the might of the fury they have beckoned! Through flame and thunder, justice will be served!" the red haired youth cried as he reached sidelong, grasped the unsuspecting yellow rodent's spade-like ears and charged headlong into the fray. "Have at thee! I'll _never_ surrender!!"

* * *

"And at this point he'll never give up." The green haired Female Knight said to the other castaways with a shrug as she glanced in the direction of the distant jungle several hours later, when the sounds of explosions began to come fainter and less frequently than they had earlier. "I doubt that the boy is dead by now, but we may as well write him off as a loss. He's far too stubborn to yield to anyone when his passion is high. We may yet see him again but not anytime soon, I'm afraid."

"I can't say I've been holding my breath this whole time," said the Alien Pilot Girl from a short distance away, as she worked within a large, open panel on her giant mech's leg, "Nothing's come up on my console as far as any signal goes. My S.O.S. broadcast has been blaring on every primary and subspace channel all day, and no one out there is biting. It looks like we're a long way off from a rescue."

As the pilot ended her sentence, there was a disturbance from the bushes just off to the side of the grounded mech, and as it wasn't in the direction of the earlier explosions that had become part of the ordinary ambience. The assembled group rose as one in alarm, quickly taking battle stances as they eyed the rustling shrubbery, fists raised, weapons poised and cheeks bloated in anticipation.

"'Ey, you in the bushes," the fat, Frog King croaked loudly through pursed lips, as he strained to keep his stored attack bubbles at bay, "come outta there with yer hands up, nice and slow!"

The greenery shook for a few moments more before it eventually produced a young girl, who stumbled out slightly hands in the air as ordered. She was a little older than teenage, wearing a cream colored t-shirt, a pair of cobalt blue shorts, rugged black sneakers and fingerless black gloves. Her complexion was moderately tanned, and her jet black, waist length hair looked a bit unkempt but still relatively even. From the shape of her attire, it appeared as though she'd done a bit of traveling up to that point.

"Whoa. Um, sorry folks," the Black Haired Girl offered with a polite smile, continuing her brisk walk after freeing her leg from some stubborn vines in a deliberate trajectory away from the group, "Just passing through, don't mind me."

"H-hey, miss! Wait, where are you going?" Called the Electric Creature Trainer, stowing his red and white carrier orbs and lowering his guard steadily along with the rest of the group, "You shouldn't go off alone, it's dangerous out there! Your clothes look familiar, are you another trainer? We should really all stick together, miss! Please wait!"

"Did you bring anyone else with you?" grumbled the bloated Frog King after forcefully swallowing back his heavy bubbles and belching loudly for several seconds, "I'm hungry!"

The Black Haired Girl marched on diligently towards the distant jungle, waving back over her shoulder to the group and patting a strange, bladeless sword hilt tied to her hip as she went, "I'll be alright, thanks. I honestly don't know where I'm going, so I wouldn't bother following. Take care and good luck, guys!" she said before leaping courageously into a thick mass of foliage near the stony ruins and vanishing from sight.

The assembled group gaped and blinked in disbelief for a good while as they watched the random passer-by disappear into the jungle. The silence among them was palpable, with only a gentle breeze attempting to disrupt it.

"Well, so much for _that_ rescue," The Earth Gym Leader eventually barked with a shrug of her solid shoulders, "but the frog dude's got a point, I think it's about time we found some roughage if we're gonna be here for a while!" She stated, visoring a hand over her eyes and searching the horizon swiftly.

"Let's not overexert ourselves in searching for too long," the frog king burbled sinisterly, licking his rubbery lips with a slurp as he eyed the suddenly anxious looking Boxing Champ across from him.

* * *

It hadn't taken the Black Haired Girl long enough to figure out the energy saber she now sported on her hip. The blade flared to life after she stumbled upon it and took its handle up in her frustrated grip, and she recognized its purpose immediately. It had been most instrumental in helping her get around the jungles hostile fauna when stealth was not on her side.

The saber was one of many odd weapons she had come across in her travels through the different corrupted realms, and the only time she stopped to rest was when she knew for certain she was in a secluded place where nothing could find her. The smaller monsters, like the colorful little "Q" headed people that attacked in packs, were easy enough to dispatch, while the big ones like the scythe-armed cauldron beast or the pincer tank driving blob were best left alone.

She wasn't exactly a push over in any case. Aside from being just about an intermediate level creature trainer, the Black Haired Girl was also formidably schooled in martial arts and could utilize a portion of her body's inherent energy in battle to a small degree. As it so happened, the dojo she hailed from specialized in the care and training of fighter-type creatures, and her education was doubly important as she traversed the deadly jungle with the scant few members of her menagerie she carried with her for emergencies.

All of the Fighter Trainer's walking finally paid off when she eventually reached a clearing which held a single stone structure about the size of a tool shed. The girl grinned and snapped her fingers victoriously as she ran towards the structure, simultaneously unhooking a red and blue orb from her side and throwing it forward.

When her orb hit the ground it separated at its dual-colored hemisphere on a pivot point, and out of it materialized a tough looking humanoid beast that flaunted four muscular arms.

The black haired trainer thrust a confident index finger at a rounded, black symbol near the far base of the stone construction, "There's the weak point! You know the drill, whack it good, big guy!" she commanded to her fighting creature encouragingly.

With an affirmative exclamation, the four armed brawler reeled back and delivered a formidable reverse punch to the stone structures marked area. When the fighter creature's fist impacted with the wall the construction immediately began to crack and split in all directions from the point of contact.

The fighter trainer quickly dropped into a defensive stance when the stone structure began to fall apart in front of her, reaching to her hip to grasp and will her coveted energy saber to life with a brilliant flash. As rehearsed, her four armed monster jumped back to her side in that instant and similarly readied itself for battle without being commanded to do so. Both combatants were thoroughly aware by now that these sort of situations were never as easy as they appeared in this alien world.

Of all the dangerous fauna she'd mentally documented and categorized to potentially lie in wait for them within the small stone structure, the Black Haired Trainer was mostly glad but still a bit annoyed to discover one of the jungles intermediate level humanoids had taken up temporary residence in the hut that was now merely a pile of rubble. This particular example was a gangly, silver skinned thing with a large, coiled air horn for a head, standing not much taller than she. The trumpet monster seemed mostly oblivious to the fact that the building that served as its small base of operations had just been reduced to powder around it, and was, in fact, dancing and singing a bizarre tune to itself without any care in the world.

The Black Haired Girl wasted no time with this monster, tossing her energy saber powerfully and imbedding its blade of light deep in the wide mouth of the trumpet head as the creature turned in the duo's direction. "GO!" she shouted sidelong to her four armed companion, and the two of them dashed the short distance between them and the trumpet beast as it reeled back on it's heals, gagging and sputtering a completely different musical number to the sky above. And in a display of flawless choreography, the fighter trainer delivered a solid punch to the trumpet thing's gut to further stun it before dropping to the ground and locking its strange feet in a scissor hold with her legs while her four armed brawler took it's head clean off with a rising, wheeling, four armed uppercut.

In the fading, black mist of the trumpet creature's body, the duo high-fived each other and triumphantly punched their fists to the sky, the Black Haired Trainer catching her energy sabers handle as it tumbled down from several stories above with an electric hum. "Onward!" she commanded, pointing the glowing blade to the strangely designed door that appeared on the other side of the fading black cloud. The door itself was aglow with ethereal light, and stood on its own without a jamb or any hinges, divided in its center and seemingly set in invisible space.

The Fighter Trainer dashed forward and kicked the odd door inward, and the duo proceeded courageously into the swirling void of light beyond it. This marked the beginning of yet another harrowing trek through the savage lands of the corrupted realm and a multitude of exotic environments. The black haired girl pushed onward relentlessly with her fighting creature menagerie, battling her way from door to door as he had been doing for months prior to encountering the random group of five individuals at the jungle ruins. Thankfully, surprisingly edible food and secluded hideaways were in abundance, so the journey was not entirely impossible. She was confident that eventually she would find a way home, and stopping now would absolutely mean disaster.

After a few days, however, the Black Haired Trainer had no choice but to stop her hyperdimensional flight, having dashed into a golden door vortex and suddenly finding herself absolutely surrounded by darkness and nothing else. Some of the doors she encountered were two way portals while others were one way only, and this portal was one of the later. It hadn't even taken her to an area she was even remotely familiar with; a small, membranous platform of strange, purple/yellow light no bigger than a sidewalk tile, floating within a void of infinite and ominous darkness. The only light in this area was the occasional pulse from her platform and from the veins of electric light that arced in the expanse of the enveloping black space.

This was certainly different, the Fighter Trainer lamented to herself objectively, and different didn't always mean good. Still, the girl was hopeful, even though the situation seemed fairly dire, and she stood in place patiently with her arms folded as she continued to scan the area.

She waited patiently for nearly an hour on the platform, but absolutely nothing changed about the place she was in. Unfortunately, she possessed no creatures capable of flight within her creature collection, but she would have been reluctant to send any of them into the organic looking darkness in any case. Sometimes in that alien multiverse, the girl had learned, patience was a highly coveted virtue, and though she was beginning to get rather frustrated the girl continued to await a ripple in the quiet darkness.

The Trainer was about to take a seat on her translucent tile when something did finally occur not too far from where she was. From out of nowhere materialized a round portal of shimmering light, which slowly hovered a short distance out and several stories below the girl's platform. The black haired girl clenched her fists tightly as she instantly recognized the light portal as one of the same doorways she was taken through to get to this chaotic realm.

Without a second thought, the Fighter Trainer stepped to the very edge of the platform behind her before planting her feet and performing a dashing leap towards the portal below. It was terrifying, and she knew it may just be a suicidal venture, but anything was preferable to staying in this new prison of nothingness. Her aim was true, though, and she knew without a doubt that she would pass through the shimmering portal, to where she did not know or care.

Just before reaching the surface of the glowing portal, however, the girl's fall slowed to an inevitable halt. She gasped and growled angrily, her voice echoing with a strange delay in the void, as she reached out for the portals bright surface, only managing to make the water-like luminescence ripple and wave slightly. After a moment, the same invisible force holding her in space also pulled her away and set her down on another small light membrane platform that had just appeared, far out of jumping range from the portal. This did not deter the girl in the slightest, and with a defiant huff she set about readying herself for yet another leap at the distant portal.

"_Persistent …and stubborn. Normally, that sort of behavior would upset me, but for some reason I cannot fathom it is rather intriguing in this case."_ a foreboding but strangely serene voice echoed from seemingly everywhere around the girl, ironically devoid of any discernable emotion.

"LET ME OUT, YOU CREEP!!" The Black Haired Girl found herself shouting into the darkness in response to the omnipresent voice. At the time, she wasn't even sure if the voice belonged to her captor, and she hardly cared in at any rate, given her most recent denial of potential freedom and the volatile frustration pressurized behind that. The Fighter Trainer snapped up her energy saber in one hand and a red and white creature orb in the other, baring her teeth angrily at the surrounding space and any potential danger within it. "Either let me out of here or come out of hiding, coward!! My fists have something they'd like to discuss with your face!"

"_Oh my, such aggression."_ The disembodied voice stated, with a patronizing edge even without any inherent emotion behind it. It then tisked loudly as another invisible force then pried not only the energy saber from the girl's grip but also her entire store of creature orbs from her other hand and hip and her makeshift pack of weapons and supplies. _"Brandishing weapons and issuing abominable threats. Honestly, that manor of behavior is quite unbecoming of such an adorable young lady. I believe a nap may be severely overdue."_

The Black Haired Girl's hands trembled with rage as she seethed over the ease with which her belongings were taken from her and the voices parental scolding, but before she could bark the dirtiest word she could think of at the moment a gigantic face of static filled blue light suddenly appeared before her. She gasped and mustered every ounce of will she had just to keep standing, for the face of light not only obscured the shimmering portal barely visible beyond it but the vast majority of her peripheral vision. It's features were smoothly mannequin, not much of a set of nostrils or a mouth slit and the only indication of eyes the face had was a singular, strange, disk-like object in it's right socket.

"_That spitfire attitude seems to have abandoned you, my dear. Has my sudden appearance frightened you? My my, what a precious fawn you are. But I would be telling a lie if I said I had not done this to prove a point, and I assure you that I do not tell lies, little fawn."_ The entity boomed in its gentle but resounding voice to the Fighter Trainer, who steadily stood her ground. The face eventually began to shrink before her, and a body of similar blue brilliance formed below it, still twice as tall as any person she'd ever met, posed in a fashion that looked like the being was lightly embracing itself. _"How is _this_, little one? Is this form slightly less intimidating? Easier to comprehend? I can assume any form you wish, and I am ever open to new ideas. I would very much like us to be friends."_

"Let me out!" The Black Haired Girl said again much quieter, folding her arms tightly and turning her head a bit so that the luminous being could not see the moisture beginning to coat her eyes. Now that she was certain she was dealing with the mastermind behind all of the surrounding madness, she would not dare deliberately give the monster the satisfaction of thinking it had broken her spirit. "Just…let me go. I promise I won't send anyone after you."

The Being of Light produced a sound that vaguely resembled laughter, which caused the platform and the air in the dark void to vibrate momentarily. The pulsing veins of light synchronized in the luminous being, the platform and the surrounding black brightened a few levels just before the laughing sound faded off. _"Send anyone after me? Come child, I had thought that you would understand by now, but that is my error. He whom you are speaking to at this moment is no less than a God, little fawn. Sending an army of any caliber, any quantity against me would accomplish no more than blowing dandelion petals into my face. In case your recollection is as disappointing as your cognitive and observational prowess, I should remind you that I do not lie. I have been quite generous in allowing you to roam freely about my little maze, but my benevolence is not inexhaustible, child."_

The Fighter Trainer continued to glance into the bleak darkness at the light being's side, not wanting to meet it's eyes directly, or whatever served as its eyes. Her teeth ground almost audibly as she listened to the thing's condescending and simultaneously self venerating banter.

The entity floated to one side of the shimmering portal and gestured to it with a lazy, upturned palm. _"And where were you planning to escape to, at any rate? Here?"_ it said to the girl, pausing to implicate a silent sigh. With a wave of the being's hand, the portal's rippling opacity faded away to reveal the world beyond it.

A strange scene played out beyond the dimensional gateway, as what looked like a man obviously dressed like a chef ran in a bit of a panic across large platforms made of what appeared to be bread, meat patties and other sandwich ingredients while humanoid breakfast food creatures relentlessly chased him down. After taking a wrong turn, the chef encountered a large, fried egg monster which swung its bulbous upper body at his face as he hastily searched his pockets for something, knocking him out cold atop a large bridge of lettuce.

"_I do not imagine you would get along very well in such a dreadful place. You may discover some method of quelling your temper, but you would most certainly never find your way out. What a horrible way to live out the rest of your life, little fawn. What a horrible way for anyone to live, at that." _The Corrupted God stated stoically as one large, menacing but ornate interpretation of a butterfly wing of rainbow light materialized and unfolded from his left side, covering half of the large portal.

A few drops of dark static dripped from the flat surface of the entity's rainbow wing and into the portal. Once completely inside the strange dimension, the static droplets expanded to become several large black and red avian heads with open beaks. The prone chef sat up just in time to have the light from the large energy orbs gathering in each of the avian's beaks reflect in his spectacles, but did not even think to scream before each of the heads produced bright, searing rays that completely obliterated everything around them. Once the realm in view of the portal was completely incinerated, the avian heads turned their attentions to parts beyond, beginning to charge more energy in their red mouths as they moved off.

The light entity shook its head slowly as it expanded it's wing across the portal and made it shrink and close like an iris. Once the gateway was completely gone, the being folded and dematerialized it's rainbow wing before speaking again. _"I had grown bored with that particular item of my collection quite some time ago, and had every intention of disposing of it before I became engaged with other affairs. If you can imagine, being a God does not allow for much leisure time, my schedule is thoroughly booked. So you see it certainly would have done you no avail to enter such a pathetic place. I would have regretted accidentally imparting my will hastily on a vibrant and rare soul such as yours. I quite honestly would have regretted it. Remember, I do not lie."_

The Fighter Trainer was absolutely aghast and speechless as she witnessed the careless brutality of the Corruption Entity, though she would not let her terror show on her face. She remained silent, even though every aspect of this event, since stepping through the last door, was ugly and offensive, and inevitable she realized. Her captor was, and always had been, toying with her since the very beginning. She almost dared to wipe her eyes quickly before the platform she was standing on suddenly expanded under her feet, making her jump with a start. Not only did the platform's surface expand greatly but it also became opaque with lush grass and thick vegetation. Eventually the sky around her brightened to a wane pink color around a false, greenish sun, and an entire forest landscape unfolded around the girl.

Still hovering a short distance away, the Light Entity remained, hardly casting a shadow but causing the grass beneath it to bow outwards slightly in a several yard radius. _"Do you see this, little fawn? It is for you. I believe it suits you quite nicely, though I doubt I could completely duplicate the beauty of your spirit. While I shall under no circumstances release you from my world, I can at the very least make your stay enjoyable."_ The Corrupted God stated as it began to float closer to the girl, eventually shrinking itself to about her height as it came to within a few feet of her. _"I could read your mind and discover for myself what your true desires are, but that would just be rude. I prefer to be kind and pay you the honor of asking, at least for now. Do not be timid, you may tell me anything, chil--…"_

A punch infused with a miniscule but noteworthy amount of the Black Haired Girl's fighter ki slammed into the luminescent being's face at that point, cutting it's words short. It was an instinctive fighter reflex, and the girl quickly took a step back but stood firmly, somewhat surprised by what she'd just done. She figured she was dead already anyway, what was one more act of defiance? "If you aren't going to let me go home, then at least give me back my Blue." She demanded then, impulsively saying the first thing that came to mind. She realized after the fact that it was kind of moot to do so, but it took everything she had to maintain her composure in the face of such despair.

"…'_Blue'?"_ The entity finally asked after a moment of awkward silence. It's face began to form spidery cracks from the subtle indication of a fist dent on its face. _"I am aware of the color blue, and of the sky being referred to as such. In this place, both of these things certainly qualify as my possessions, but I do not recall such a thing as it pertains to you. Perhaps if I search my memory, or, more appropriately, yours…"_ the being said as the punched side of it's face began to crumble away, revealing one red eye.

The Black Haired Girl's hard exterior was threatened immensely as the entity's body crumbled away completely before her to expose it's latest form. Before too long, standing in front of the girl was a small blue and black creature she was very familiar with and missed more than words could convey; her very own little Blue, lost to her since arriving in the corrupted realm. The girl was greatly in danger of breaking down on the spot, if not for the fact that she noted this false Blue's soulless expression, it's criticizing glare and general aura of wrongness.

"_Your attack has jolted my memory, little fawn. I do recall seeing a creature such as this with you during your procurement."_ The false Blue Thing stated with unmoving lips, spreading its little paws wide. _"It was making a pathetic attempt to interfere, and becoming quite a nuisance. My servants have no doubt long since made a paltry stain of the meek little larvae. It puzzles me why such a potentially strong individual would endear herself to a weak morsel such as this."_ The entity said, looking tiredly down at its new body and shaking its head before looking back up at the girl. _"It is a trifle for me to assume this guise. I can certainly be all that this 'Blue' of yours is and so much more. We can share your old memories of one another, new experiences, and you can love me as you would your late little friend."_

The Black Haired Girl did not look up, but she knew that the scenery was beginning to change again in her peripheral vision to mimic a false representation of the courtyard outside her dojo. She clenched her teeth, balled her fists and fought back a flood of tears with all her strength. She looked at nothing but the ground at her feet.

Folding its small arms, the fake Blue entity was quiet as it regarded the girl, not even bothering to breathe for it did not need to. It began to hover in the air a few feet off the ground, so that it would be eye level with her when it spoke again. _"It is such a pity that you have chosen punishment over my immeasurable generosity, my child. But, such is life. Defiance is the root of a vibrant soul such as yours, and it would seem that one is simply inseparable from the other. That being said, I shall leave you in solitude now, with nothing to distract you from your dreadful contemplations of violence, contempt and sorrow over insignificant matters. I have much more important events to oversee, as it stands."_ The entity kept the form of False Blue as it levitated backwards from the girl, spreading darkness as it went and returning the world around them to the bleak void and the single, tiny platform the girl stood on. It gave a slow, uncharismatic wave as it faded from view, the gentle voice reverberating everywhere even long after it's body had dematerialized. _"I bid you farewell, young heart. May your time with naught but your memories serve as a lesson. This is as kind a sentence as I can bestow. Consider yourself fortunate."_

The Black Haired Girl wasn't sure if the Corrupted God Entity was completely gone even long after it had stopped talking to her. It didn't matter anyway, she had endured all the psychological abuse she could take and now her journey to freedom, also a lie, was at a definite end. Slowly, she lowered to the surface of the light membrane platform, balled her knees up against her forehead and let the tears come. It was obvious that she was crying, but she would ball up as much as she could to keep anyone or anything from seeing her face while she did so. After losing many a dojo battle, failing several martial arts tournaments and the passing of a beloved grandparent during her brief existence, the Fighter Trainer could not recall ever having wept so much at one time.

"Please, come back to me, Blue."

Chapter 4

_Author's Note_

_This chapter underwent many a revision and critique before I finally decided to bite the bullet and post it. I have done everything I can to give the characters some distinction and not have things be too convoluted in the first half while trying to keep with the 'no names' scheme. It is unorthodox, but I have a habit of doing things the hard way in an effort to be unique. Avid Nintendo fans may not have too much trouble figuring out who makes an appearance here, but in case there is any confusion the cameo cast list includes the following characters: Rola (Metal Combat, Super Scope), Lyn (Fire Emblem, Super Smash Bros. Brawl), Little Mac (Punch Out, SSBB), King Wart (Super Mario 2), Roy (Fire Emblem, Super Smash Bros. Melee), Pichu (Pokemon, SSBM), Tabuu (SSBB). The pokemon trainers (Earth Gym Leader, Electric Trainer, Black Haired Girl) are all my personal creations. Please feel free to email me with any other questions you have about the chapter.  
_


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